DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn provided a slew of updates on his DCU on Threads on Thursday, including ones about The Batman Part II and Joker: Folie à Deux.
Perhaps most interesting, though, is his explanation of why Robert Pattinson's Batman, as introduced in 2022's The Batman, won't be part of Gunn and co-CEO Peter Safran's DCU. To be extra clear, The Batman Part II will still be released by Warner Bros. in the midst of the DCU's Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, but as a DC Elseworlds title, in a separate universe from films like Gunn's Superman: Legacy.
On Thursday, a fan asked Gunn on Threads "why isn't [director Matt] Reeves' The Batman allowed to exist within the new DCU?"
"It's not an 'allowed' thing," Gunn responded. "It's Matt's choice, and we respect that."
Safran previously commented on how these Elseworlds titles work within their DC slate, saying at the initial Gods and Monsters announcement, "The DCU is a multiverse, but we're going to be focusing on one universe from that multiverse. And if something isn't DCU, we're going to make that very clear. So strictly adult fare, like Todd Phillips' Joker or kids animation like Team Titans Go, we're going to make it very clear that those are DC Elseworlds just the same way they'd be doing in the comic books.”
To hear that Reeves himself is the one who wanted The Batman to stay within its own universe is interesting, but not entirely surprising, given Gunn's previous comments about the series. The Batman itself was a standalone tale divorced from DC films like Justice League, and Gunn said in announcing Gods and Monsters that Reeves' Batverse was "his own thing."
"Matt is working on [The Batman Part II], which he thinks of as a Batman crime saga, which also includes the Penguin TV series," Gunn explained at the time. "And it is its own thing and he's hard at work on that. He came in and pitched us some amazing, really cool stuff the other day. So our plan is for that to continue."
Gunn had also revealed that Reeves' take on The Batman is set to be a trilogy, with The Batman Part II currently on track for October 3, 2025. To that end, Gunn also provided an update on The Batman Part II's development, saying that he's heard a pitch, but hasn't seen a script yet. It's, of course, worth noting that Reeves' couldn't have worked on the script during the writers' strike from May through late September.
And, even with The Batman and Joker existing as Elseworlds titles, Gunn is still at least somewhat involved with them. Answering another fan question about his involvement, Gunn said director Todd Phillips had his sequel to 2019's hit Joker "in full swing by the time we came onboard."
"I've watched and given notes, but it's mostly with WB, where it started," he added. "Everything forward in live-action we're involved with."
We'll still have to wait until 2025, when Superman: Legacy kicks off Gunn and Safran's DCU, to see how their ambitious plan will start to unfold. But in the meantime, Gunn remains one of the most transparent creatives/executives in the business, with his social media posts giving fans a peek behind the curtain.
And on that note, for more, check out his recent comments about how "cameo porn" is "one of the worst elements of recent superhero films."
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
