James Gunn Not Interested In “Funny, Campy Batman” For DCEU, Admits Non-Zero Chance Robert Pattinson Reprises Role “But It’s Not Likely”
Though the DCEU has yet to lock-in a specific creative direction for its take on Batman, DC Studios Co-CEO James Gunn has indicated that, at the very least, the next silver screen version of The Dark Knight will be anything but “funny” or “campy”.
Gunn provided his thoughts as to what DCEU fans could expect upon the eventual arrival other half of the World’s Finest during a recent interview given to Rolling Stone‘s Brian Hiatt.
At one point during their time together, the Superman director was pressed by his host, “You once said that the fact that Robert Pattinson’s Batman is not in this universe was Matt Reeves’ choice. Does that mean if it were up to you, you would’ve just pulled that into your universe?”
In turn, Gunn noncommittally asserted, “It would be a consideration.”
“We’d have to think about it,” he added. “We’d have to think about it. It is not like we’ve never discussed it.”
Met with the observation from Hiatt that his answer was “much more present tense than I expected”, Gunn stammered out a quick denial before admitting that, perhaps more than any other DC hero, the Caped Crusader was providing him with his biggest creative roadblock.
“No, I don’t – Batman’s my biggest issue in all of DC right now, personally,” he said. “And it’s not — I’m not writing Batman, but I am working with the writer of Batman and trying to get it right, because he’s incredibly important to DC, as is Wonder Woman. So outside of the stuff that I’m doing in the projects that are actively going, our two priorities are finishing our Wonder Woman and our Batman scripts.”
“And it’s not — I’m not writing Batman, but I am working with the writer of Batman and trying to get it right, because he’s incredibly important to DC, as is Wonder Woman,” continued the DCEU boss. “So outside of the stuff that I’m doing in the projects that are actively going, our two priorities are finishing our Wonder Woman and our Batman scripts.”
Subsequently asked by Hiatt as to “what needs to be figured out” in order to make the latter hero “work in this universe”, Gunn revealed, “Batman has to have a reason for existing, right? So Batman 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. But because there’s a need for him in the DCU and a need that he’s not exactly the same as Matt’s Batman.”
Further expanding on his last point, Gunn then clarified that while he intended for the DCEU’s version of the World’s Greatest Detective to be different from Reeve’s hard-boiled interpretation, this did not mean he wanted to play up “a campy Batman”.
“I’m not interested in that,” he declared. “I’m not interested in a funny, campy Batman, really. So we’re dealing with that. I think I have a way in, by the way. I think I really know what it’s — I just am dealing with the writer to make sure that we can make it a reality.”
From there, the Superman scribe was asked point blank, “Is there still a non-zero chance that Matt Reeves’ Batman will get sucked into your universe?”, to which, after a long pause, he carefully affirmed, “I would never say zero, because you just never know. But it’s not likely. It’s not likely at all.”
“I’ll also say Batman Part II is not canceled,” he concluded. “That’s the other thing I hear all the time — that Batman Part II is canceled. It’s not canceled. We don’t have a script. Matt’s slow. Let him take his time. Let him do what he’s doing. God, people are mean. Let him do his thing, man.”
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