A Batman has not been selected yet for The Brave and The Bold, which is begging the question: what’s the holdup? The answer could be timing or delays brought on by the recent writer and actor strikes, but there may be more going on behind the scenes.
As revealed at the founding – or rather, rebranding – of DC Studios, although James Gunn may have a vision and freedom to carry it out as he sees fit, he reports to David Zaslav. The Warner Bros. Discovery CEO has input then and he most definitely has an opinion.
As such, according to insider Jeff Sneider in his newsletter, Zaslav is recommending, if not demanding, that Gunn incorporate Robert Pattinson into the DCU as its official Dark Knight. Sneider asks, “where does Robert Pattinson’s Batman factor into this, and if he doesn’t, then… why the hell not?”
It’s a fair question. The Batman is still the most successful DC release of the last two years and The Penguin’s ratings prove the ongoing crime saga is popular and viable. Matt Reeves more than earns his keep, not to mention his seat at the table – the axing of two of his shows aside.
Those of you who have been reading our coverage long enough might recall this was the rumored lineup for the new creative direction at DC in Hollywood about five years ago. Gunn and Reeves were going to take over with a big hand from JJ Abrams.
Obviously, one of those pieces didn’t fit the puzzle and was left out, despite whatever progress exists for a Superman movie he is producing with Ta-Nehisi Coates. Whether it happens or not, Gunn is in charge of the Man of Steel now and Zaslav wants to ditch the Multiverse principle.
The latter stated there won’t be multiple variants of Batman, and it’s safe to assume that will go for all the heroes before long. This could entail ‘Battinson’ being the first hero of the DCU or that he will be brought into the fold somehow, someday, through some chicanery. It was rumored some time ago this would happen, oddly enough, so he could be in the next Justice League.
Everything is changing by the minute over in Burbank, but all the scoops and reports claim DC/WBD are still constant on one thing: they want to compete with Marvel. Apparently, pooling resources to simplify their continuity is the strategy they feel is best.
However, they may be forgetting that they have been here before, and meddling too much made a mess, which didn’t help the fortunes of either Batman or Superman on the big screen.
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