Although Matt Reeves has his own Batman franchise for Warner Bros, James Gunn decided that it was a smart move to work on a separate Caped Crusader project for his upcoming DCU. A few years ago, Gunn hired Andy Muschietti to direct this Batman movie, titled “The Brave and the Bold,” for DC Studios.
The problem is that having two Batmans occurring simultaneously is maybe not the best business move. It doesn’t help that Muschietti directed “The Flash,” a film that lost more than $150M for Warner Bros and was panned by critics upon release. Gunn hired Muschietti before anyone had seen “The Flash,” so as you can imagine, he’s in a bit of a conundrum here.
In a new Rolling Stone interview, Gunn got candid about the daunting task of crafting a new version of Batman for the DCU—one that must coexist with, but remain distinct from Reeves’ noir-drenched “The Batman” saga.
“Batman’s my biggest issue in all of DC right now, personally,” Gunn admits, striking an unusually vulnerable tone. And while he’s not the one writing the character directly, he’s heavily involved in shaping the creative direction of what is currently still titled “The Brave and the Bold.”
The challenge is clear: how do you introduce yet another version of the Caped Crusader into a cinematic landscape already saturated with him—without falling into parody, redundancy, or irrelevance?
Batman has to have a reason for existing. He can’t just be ‘Oh, we’re making a Batman movie because Batman’s the biggest character in all of Warner Bros.,’ which he is […] I’m not interested in a funny, campy Batman, really.
That said, Gunn claims he’s found “a way in”—a fresh perspective on the character that doesn’t retread old ground but still honors what makes Batman compelling. It’s just a matter of executing that vision alongside the unnamed writer he’s working closely with.
As for Reeves’ “The Batman” entering the DCU? Gunn didn’t slam the door shut, but he’s about as close as it gets: “I would never say zero, because you just never know. But it’s not likely. It’s not likely at all.” He also took the opportunity to push back against rumors that “The Batman Part II” is dead in the water. “It’s not canceled. We don’t have a script. Matt’s slow. Let him take his time… God, people are mean. Let him do his thing, man.”
At the end of the day, Gunn is facing what might be the most high-stakes creative decision in modern franchise filmmaking: reinventing a character that has already been reinvented to death.
Back in 2021, Noah Baumbach signed a multi-year deal with Netflix that committed him to writing and directing several films for the streamer over the following years. He made two, and now he's gone.