I"m glad that James Gunn has decided not to integrate Robert Pattinson"s Dark Knight from The Batman into the rebooted DC Universe. Filmmaker James Gunn took over DC Studios alongside producer Peter Safran in 2022, and set to work rebooting DC"s live-action movie franchise. I was glad to see the back of Ben Affleck"s Batman, and I"m excited about Gunn and Safran"s plans to reinvent the Caped Crusader in the DCU"s The Brave and the Bold movie, but the success of Matt Reeves" The Batman in 2022 may have thrown a spanner in the works.
Robert Pattinson donned the cape and cowl as a more grounded and gritty version of Bruce Wayne in The Batman to take on Paul Dano"s Riddler, who had been targeting the wealthy elite of Matt Reeves" Gotham City. I loved this depiction of Batman, so I understood the rise in speculation that Pattinson"s Dark Knight could become the official version of the hero for the rebooted DC Universe. However, James Gunn has other ideas, and I actually think his way of doing things will be far more beneficial to the DCU and Batman himself.
James Gunn Considered Bringing Robert Pattinson’s Batman Into The DCU Robert Pattinson Debuted As Batman In 2022 Close Speaking on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast in December 2024, James Gunn revealed that he did contemplate integrating Robert Pattinson"s Batman into the DCU. Robert Pattinson"s take on Batman is different to any that have come before him, and I"m very interested to see where the former Harry Potter and Twilight star takes the character in the upcoming sequel, 2026"s The Batman - Part II, and beyond. Currently, we don"t know what direction the DCU will take with Batman, so it"s a good thing that Pattinson"s Batman will remain separate.
Immediately after revealing that he contemplated introducing Robert Pattinson"s Batman to the DCU, James Gunn explained exactly why this wouldn"t be happening, and his reasoning made me very happy. Gunn stated that he"s "committed to both telling stories in the DCU and telling Elseworlds stories," and since Matt Reeves" new Batman Epic Crime Saga has been a very successful corner of the DC Elseworlds sphere, I"d consider it a shame to lose it. The same goes for all of DC"s upcoming Elseworlds projects, which I"m excited to see develop separate from the main DC Universe.
The DCU & DC Elseworlds Should Be Kept Separate Separation Would Benefit Both The DCU & DC's Elseworlds Projects James Gunn"s comments about being committed to telling Elseworlds stories and wanting the freedom to do so have me very excited about the future of DC"s live-action storytelling. In the past, I have had a love/hate relationship with DC, as the movies have more-often-than-not fallen flat for me, and have failed to capture the magic that Marvel Studios delivers in its MCU, for instance. 2022"s The Batman, and, before that, 2019"s Joker, hooked my interest more than any other DC movie, because they tried different things than we"d seen before, which was enticing.
Live-Action DC Elseworlds Projects
Year
Joker
2019
Superman & Lois
2021
The Batman
2022
Joker: Folie à Deux
2024
The Penguin
2024
The Batman - Part II
2026
Ta-Nehisi Coates" Black-led Superman
TBD
Constantine 2
TBD
I would consider it a huge disappointment if DC Studios" sole focus was to fall on the DCU, and the development of new Elseworlds movies was to be ignored. I think it would be a huge mistake for Robert Pattinson"s Batman to be folded into the DCU, as he should have the freedom to grow in his own franchise without being too connected to DC"s plethora of other heroes. I"m already upset that the Joker franchise likely won"t continue after 2024"s Joker: Folie à Deux, but I"m hoping more Elseworlds movies expand DC"s repertoire in the not-too-distant future.
The Brave & The Bold Will Debut A New Batman For The DCU The DCU Doesn't Need Robert Pattinson's Batman The bottom line is: the DCU doesn"t need Robert Pattinson"s Batman. James Gunn announced the development of The Brave and the Bold in January 2023, with the project set to introduce a new actor cast as Batman in the DCU alongside the live-action debut of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul"s son, Damian Wayne, who adopts the moniker of Robin in DC Comics. We can already see that the story of the DCU"s Batman is wildly different to that of the younger and more-hardened Dark Knight portrayed by Pattinson, so it just wouldn"t work integrating him into the rebooted franchise.

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