What should Gunn do with Batman?

[king666]

3 years ago, the appropriate plan was to stop making new DCEU movies and just let that whole universe end. But they kept making new stuff (Black Adam, Blue Beetle, TSS, etc) so now we're stuck with this mess. Also: I'm 100% not a Snyderbro, but I have to say Hamada's plan with Keaton, Supergirl and Batgirl was garbage-fire.

In my opinion, merging the Reevesverse into the DCEU is a weird, weird idea. Multiverse stuff is confusing as fork to general audiences. Marvel is doing it, but they're still pretty conservative. They're not merging universes and rewriting Earth-616's history.

 

[moviedoors]

What goodwill/boost The Batman gave for Black Adam though this year?

I truly don't care how THE BATMAN did or did not help BLACK ADAM. That's the whole problem with shared universes and franchise filmmaking. Suddenly a filmmaker has to worry about serving a star vehicle that has nothing to do with the movie they're making. It stops being about the film at hand and instead about how it tees up a future movie. That's lame. I love that THE BATMAN is only concerned with its own internal world and any teases it features are within that world and only makeup a tiny piece of its running time.

 

[FunkMiller]

Honestly, who the bad place knows with this mess?

There's no good answer to this question. None.

The least worst is probably Affleck in the DCEU in supporting and team ups, and Battinson off in his own universe. But even that sucks as a strategy.

It's moronic to keep forcing the DCEU down our throats.

 

[The Lazarus Pit]

He should make sure they do Kingdom Come and Batman Beyond with Keaton. I’d love to see it.

 

[Lily Adler]

He should make sure they do Kingdom Come and Batman Beyond with Keaton. I’d love to see it.

And Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman.

 

[Snow Queen]

Just leave Reeves alone to do what he wants. Give me that in all this mess.

 

[Lily Adler]

Just leave Reeves alone to do what he wants. Give me that in all this mess.

Gunn should fire Reeves and replace him with Snyder.

 

[metaphysician]

Honestly, I lean in the direction of "He should let Reeves continue to make what Batman movies he wants, but he should *also* take Pattinson and introduce him as the Batman of the other DC movies". Basically, don't demand that Reeves has to massively change up "his vision", but also refuse to grant him a monopoly on the use of said "vision" elsewhere.

 

[WatchProtect]

I'd let Reeves continue his universe.

In the "new" DCU just make that Nightwing movie they've been trying to make for years and have Bruce Wayne play a supporting role in that. Have Bruce show up in like a Titans movie or something similar, very brief Batman scenes in each.

Those release around 2026-2027. Pattinson Batman concludes around 2029-2030. Make a new JL movie in 2032, make the new solo Batman trilogy starting 2034.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

If I had my wish, there would be no forced DCEU. Just make good movies about good characters. Stop forcing them to share a universe. It’s a gimmick by now.

Agreed. It’s so unnecessary. Remember the plan of keeping each character sort of its own separate thing with movies, spin-offs, cartoons and such? That seemed to me a good way to differentiate themselves from Marvel…

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

They should have just kept Affleck fulltime and not done any other projects with Batman.

Affleck didn’t WANT to be kept. He bowed out on his own accord.

 

[Boom]

I've looked at this a number of ways, and I keep falling back on recasting Affleck.

I might be wrong, but I just have this feeling that Pattinson isn't going to want to sign up for more Batman appearances beyond his commitment to Reeves' films. He wanted to play Batman, he's getting to play Batman (under a singular vision, I might add), but he still has other things he wants to do. I dunno. Asking him to commit to more films outside of the Reeves-verse, without any scripts to look at or knowing what filmmakers are attached, seems like a hard sell.

 

[The Lazarus Pit]

In that case, let Hamm be the DCU Batman

 

[Boom]

Here's a thought.

If the plan is to "soft reboot" the DCU, how about focusing on Robin (Dick Grayson) with Batman in the supporting role?

Seems a pretty elegant solution of having two Batmen running at the same time.

 

[Babillygunn]

Here's a thought.

If the plan is to "soft reboot" the DCU, how about focusing on Robin (Dick Grayson) with Batman in the supporting role?

Seems a pretty elegant solution of having two Batmen running at the same time.

I think that while Batman is bankable, he can lead to some fatigue, so a greater focus on Nightwing, especially in a broader universe, could be very welcome.
I once heard Dan Jurgens comment in an interview that he thinks that Nightwing is the central character in all of DC. I’ve found that to be a very interesting comment and an interesting way to look at it. But as he puts it, Nightwing is the character who came in as everyone’s little brother/kid, but he has grown up and taken his rightful place among them. He is the one who has had trajectory and growth and that has impacted all around him.
I’d love to see his story take shape on film and frankly I find that more refreshing than yet another Batman for the sake of having Batman.

 

[Boom]

Nevermind the fact that we are way overdue for Dick Grayson's return to the silver screen, but I think it'd be interesting to see Batman in a supporting capacity. It's a fresh perspective that we're not accustomed to seeing on the big screen. Batman Forever and B&R kinda skirted it, but even then I'd say Batman and Robin were co-leads in those films. Rather, I'd make Robin the undisputed lead character, with Batman in the mentor-type role. Keep the POV almost squarely on Robin at all times. Or heck, do the Bat Family with Dick and Barbara as the POV characters. Either way, Batman's not the focus here.

You now have a version of Batman that is instantly distinguishable from Pattinson's. And since the DCU Batman's function is to serve the development of another character, you justify its existence.

 

[BoredGuy]

This may have been discussed, forgive me if so

But is there any way for it to make sense that Battinson is the younger version of Batfleck? Cuz then they could go the Dead-Bruce/Batman-Dick Grayson direction with it, then years down the line after Reeves's films are done bring Battinson back from Apokolips or the Lazarus Pit or something as the seasoned old Batman.

That way Reeves films can continue on for however long they like as the "origin story", while Batman in Justice League or any modern projects would be Dick...

 

[Invader Joker]

I've looked at this a number of ways, and I keep falling back on recasting Affleck.

I might be wrong, but I just have this feeling that Pattinson isn't going to want to sign up for more Batman appearances beyond his commitment to Reeves' films. He wanted to play Batman, he's getting to play Batman (under a singular vision, I might add), but he still has other things he wants to do. I dunno. Asking him to commit to more films outside of the Reeves-verse, without any scripts to look at or knowing what filmmakers are attached, seems like a hard sell.

I think he would agree... if Gunn was the one that directed the Justice League movies.
Before he got cast as Batman, he mentioned Guardians of the Galaxy as a franchise he would've liked to been a part of since he ended up loving the films so much.
Robert Pattinson on Lost City of Z, Future Projects & Superhero Movies

"PATTINSON: I'd love to do a kind of superhero-y, graphic novel-y thing if it was an original piece. It's a very different experience when there's already an audience for it. I'm always interested in Guardians of the Galaxy. I loved Guardians of the Galaxy.

Also I think Gunn and Pattinson have very similar tastes in terms of liking the weird and finding the humor in everything. Pattinson in his interviews has always talked about how what appeals to him about Batman is that he's weird and considers him a bit insane... which seems to be the exact same thing Gunn likes about Batman.

James Gunn Isn’t Laughing at Peacemaker

"The idea that superheroes are maniacs is something I like very much. Guardians is much different because it’s really a science-fiction story, a science-fantasy story. They’re not superheroes, they’re not wearing masks, which is one of the reasons I think I had an easier time working my way into it. But in The Suicide Squad, you got guys wearing yellow costumes and all this stuff. I decided to go for what it would really be like. Treating these people like gods is like, “Whaat?” I have a hard time imagining a guy who’s really serious and wants revenge making a costume for himself and putting black around his eyes so his skin doesn’t show when you look him in the face. He’s got the mask on, and also the eye makeup under it! There’s a silliness to it that I can’t deny. Not because it’s making fun but because it seems to me that the silliness is what is real."

That all sounds extremely similar to several comments that Rob has made in the past, it's extremely easy for me to imagine them both bonding.
I actually think there's a decent chance Gunn is the one that directs the JL films too. If he's already the one plotting out this 10 year story, and he's already gonna spend so much time overseeing it because it's clearly that important to him... why not direct it himself? He said the main things that he looks at when considering making a movie is whether or not it's something he's passionate enough to spend 2 years of his life doing, and this story he's outlining is. He's presumably already outlining the stories for JL films, so why not write them too and if he's already writing and producing them why not direct them instead of going through the hassle of finding a competent director that'll stick to Gunn's vision?

 

[Invader Joker]

This may have been discussed, forgive me if so

But is there any way for it to make sense that Battinson is the younger version of Batfleck? Cuz then they could go the Dead-Bruce/Batman-Dick Grayson direction with it, then years down the line after Reeves's films are done bring Battinson back from Apokolips or the Lazarus Pit or something as the seasoned old Batman.

That way Reeves films can continue on for however long they like as the "origin story", while Batman in Justice League or any modern projects would be Dick...

There's really no way to do that since, aside from the fact that Jeffrey Wright and JK Simmons are obviously two very different people, The Batman takes place very clearly in modern day, as shown by how Riddler literally recruited people via livestreams (also the date 2019 is seen on several props in the movie) so the only way to do that would be to retcon it so Batfleck takes place in idk 2040 or something like that, which just seems too convoluted. Not to mention the fact that they both play very different takes on Batman.
Also it still limits Reeves since the DCEU films would have a clear path for characters like Dick Grayson or Harley in that instance, so he wouldn't have complete freedom to make his own take on those characters.

 

[BoredGuy]

Ah true, forgot about the Qanon/8chan of it all...

 

[Web-Head]

 

[super85]

Affleck didn’t WANT to be kept. He bowed out on his own accord.

Sure, partially becouse of his various personal problems. But I am pretty sure if WB (and Geoff Johns) would have acted smarter early on, The Batman movie with Affleck would have been produced. Its not a secret that the "Batfleck" project sounded a lot cooler to me than what was done later with "The Batman".

Now they are in a mess, with Affleck leaving, yet still coming back for several projecs, while they have signed Keaton, and then "deleting" his performances etc.

 

[Mani-Man]

Sure, partially becouse of his various personal problems. But I am pretty sure if WB (and Geoff Johns) would have acted smarter early on, The Batman movie with Affleck would have been produced. Its not a secret that the "Batfleck" project sounded a lot cooler to me than what was done later with "The Batman".

Now they are in a mess, with Affleck leaving, yet still coming back for several projecs, while they have signed Keaton, and then "deleting" his performances etc.

Affleck had problems before signing on for BvS, so im not sure if them giving him a solo movie earlier would have changed that much.
Sure we would have had a Affleck Solo movie, but how that would have been...is impossible to say.
I dont know how a Batman Project with a Teen Titans Villain would sound cooler than a gritty, Noir Detective Movie with Riddler as the Villain...but thats up to everyone.

But of course they have messed up big time and keep doing so by not simply rebooting this whole universe.

 

[Babillygunn]

the "Batfleck" project sounded a lot cooler to me than what was done later with "The Batman".

 

[super85]

Yeah, I know, there are people who liked that film. Good for you dude.