When The Batman was released in 2022, we were still in the DC Extended Universe era, with that shared universe having its own Bruce Wayne being played by Ben Affleck, allowing Robert Pattinson’s version to exist separately. Now the DC Universe franchise is underway, the upcoming DC movie The Brave and the Bold will introduce its own version of the Caped Crusader for this new shared continuity. That said, DC Studios’ James Gunn has “contemplated” possibly using Pattinson’s Batman in the DCU instead, but I like what he had to say about why it’s better for this version of the character to exist in the Elseworlds space.
Gunn, who co-runs DC Studios with producer Peter Safran, discussed a variety of topics with reporter Josh Horowitz for the Happy Sad Confused podcast, including Creature Commandos, which has now premiered to Max subscription holders and is the first DCU project. When Horowitz inquired about if Gunn has contemplated having Pattinson’s Batman be incorporated into the DCU rather than keep him cordoned off in his own universe, the filmmaker/executive answered:
I’ve contemplated it. I gotta contemplate everything, Josh. I gotta talk about everything… These questions you can’t answer because people are too... they make everything to mean something. You’d be an idiot not to think, ‘How does this go [gestures right], how does this go [gestures left]?’ But I’m committed to both telling stories in the DCU and and telling Elseworlds stories. I want the freedom to tell Elseworlds stories. We want to be able to tell a story in which Superman’s very different or tell a Red Son story or whatever. We want to be able to play with these characters in different ways.
While much of what’s coming to the big and small screens DC-wise will be tied to the DC Universe, as James Gunn says, he likes DC Studios having the space to make content that isn’t connected to this new continuity. The Batman Epic Crime Saga, which so far comprises The Batman and The Penguin limited series, as well as the two Joker movies starring Joaquin Phoenix, are among the projects that fit that classification. The DC Universe will still be a big deal, but then there’s also the freedom to put different spins on these popular heroes and villains. Gunn continued:
One of the things I love about DC over Marvel comic books is that those things are much more plentiful. There’s many more Elseworlds stories, there’s many more presentations of Wonder Woman and Batman and Superman, especially that you see them showing up in different ways in different Elseworlds stories. I think that’s part of the fun of DC.
To be clear, Marvel is no stranger to exploring versions of its popular characters from other universes, as evidenced by the source material that’s being pulled from for the MCU’s Multiverse Saga and the Spider-Verse movies. But I do agree with James Gunn that DC leans more heavily into that kind of storytelling, whether we’re talking about material stamped with the Elseworlds label or tales tied to the main DC continuity. Either way, Gunn is comfortable with Robert Pattinson’s Batman continuing to exist on his own, meaning the wait continues to learn who will don the cape and cowl for the DC Universe.
The Brave and the Bold doesn’t have a release date yet, but the first DC Universe movie, Superman, comes out on July 11, 2025. Robert Pattinson will don the Batsuit again for The Batman: Part II, which arrives on October 2, 2026.
