Rumor: Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight Getting “Phased Out” Of DC Film Universe After Matt Reeves Completes His Planned Trilogy

JB Augustine |

Aug 19, 2022

Source: The Batman (2021), Warner Bros. Entertainment

A recent article hints that there is not much of a future for Robert Pattinson as The Batman or the world director Matt Reeves is trying to build around him.

The article by That Hashtag Show articulates what we can expect DC to be like under the David Zaslav regime at Warner Discovery, noting both the projects that have been canceled and the ones that will soon be canned.

This includes Batgirl, Wonder Twins, and we recently learned HBO Max’s Strange Adventures can be added to that list but it doesn’t end there. Unfortunately, a few Dark Knights are on that queue as well.

THS says “there are some plans to make some substantial changes” at DC Films including the Kevin Feige-quality point man for operations and the canceling or shelving of projects in development.

Some things the old guard at WarnerMedia believed in will consequently be “slowly phased out” at a certain point and The Batman came up in this regard.

It’s said that “Reeves is expected to finish his Batman trilogy, and after that, it’s expected that this iteration of Batman will be phased out.”

This is troubling for Reeves and Pattinson because the former made it perfectly clear he wants to layer his universe with streaming shows exploring the underbelly of Arkham, Penguin’s rise to power, and how the police got so corrupt.

The Batman’s Penguin spin-off is set to film next year and Arkham is still in development but things aren’t looking good for their status. The same can be said for Blue Beetle which, much like Batgirl, was made for HBO Max and is done filming.

Joker 2: Folie a Deux is the only exception THS heard about from their sources — no doubt due to Joker being a profitable billion-dollar grosser. While the killer clown gets the last laugh, poetically, another Batman seems to be falling by the wayside.

Michael Keaton joins Pattinson in getting phased out. Between Batgirl’s cancelation and partial confirmation Ben Affleck is participating in a reworking of The Flash and Aquaman 2 scenes, Keaton’s hyped comeback looks bleak.

DC Films head Walter Hamada planned to use The Flash to reboot the DCEU with a Flashpoint timeline that brought in Keaton’s ‘89 Batman and introduced replacement heroes Batgirl and Supergirl — played by Leslie Grace and Sasha Calle, respectively.

Their own solo films’ demise takes Keaton’s Batman along with them, and without Batgirl nor a cameo in Aquaman 2, there is scant justification to have him around.

Hamada’s bigger plans are just as done for. According to Hashtag Show, he wanted to build toward a Crisis-level event to reboot the DCEU. This is no longer happening but would’ve been the original pretext for bringing Affleck back.

Again, the latter is taken care of although a soft reboot of some kind for the Justice League is still said to be in play, and that will bring back more characters from previous films — except for Ezra Miller given current events and prior reports Zaslav is done with “them” after The Flash.

There are rumors and a strong belief all is leading to the restoration of the Snyderverse that began in 2013 with Man of Steel. It’s speculative for now but going back to The Batman, things are hazier for that trilogy. A release date and story for part 2 are undetermined; the former possibly years away, even.

Will the DCEU be shorter one Batman — the youngest one? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.