Trying to make sense of the developments coming out of the DC side of the comic book movie genre right now is like trying to stay sane in Arkham Asylum. Reports about the continuity of The Caped Crusader's film have swarmed us like a flurry of bats, and recent comments by the director Matt Reeves had left some thinking that the character's next film won't take place in the DCEU. Seemingly realizing that he has officially kicked a hornet's nest of geek anxiety, the War for the Planet of the Apes director has taken to Twitter to clarify his remarks and reaffirm The Bat's place in the DCEU, writing:
Jeez, what'd I miss, guys...? Just to be clear: Of COURSE Batman will be part of the D.C. Universe. Batman will be BATMAN. In my comments from a while back about not being part of the DCEU, I was talking about The Batman being a story specifically about Batman, not about the others in the Universe. That it wouldn't be filled with cameos servicing other stories -- that it would be a BATMAN story.
Hopefully that will clear everything up. The Batman is "not part of the DCEU" in the same way that Wonder Woman kept itself at arm's length from the greater DCEU. It exists within that universe, but its connections to other heroes, villains and properties are tenuous at best. This is going to be a Batman movie first and foremost, so don't expect Big Blue or The Scarlet Speedster to show up to lend a hand. This is a DCEU Batman movie, but it's only going to focus on Batman.
You would be forgiven for thinking that Matt Reeves meant that he intended to take Bruce Wayne and The Caped Crusader outside of the established DCEU before he clarified his initial remarks. As of right now, it looks like the DC slate is going through yet another major creative overhaul, with Warner Bros. reportedly going all in on a series of standalone non-DCEU projects like the newly announced Joker origin movie. The announcement of the Joker film oddly coincided with Reeves' comments about the DCEU, which understandably caused many fans to assume that yet another reboot was on the horizon.
Despite Matt Reeves' clarification, there are still plenty of questions about The Batman that need to be answered. For starters, we need to know once and for all whether or not Ben Affleck intends to return to the DCEU after Justice League. Affleck cleared the air at Comic-Con and told fans that he wants to stick with the cape and cowl, but the number of conflicting reports about his happiness with the role has clearly become worrisome for some fans. Then there's the question of Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke -- who was originally slated to take on the role of the movie's main villain before Reeves stepped in to start the project from scratch. It's great to know that The Batman will take place in the DCEU, but we still have so many questions that demand answers before the film even begins production.
The DCEU's Batman will make his next silver screen appearance when Justice League premieres in theaters on November 17. Between Joss Whedon's Batgirl, Chris McKay's Nightwing and The Batman, there are a lot of Bat Family-related movies on the way, and we will bring you more information on all of them as new updates become available to us.
