These Batman Movie Delays Are a Bad Sign for the New DCU

It was a rough weekend for Batman fans, with The Batman — Part II delayed and a discouraging update on the DC Universe’s first Batman movie, The Brave and the Bold. We can only speculate about what it all means for the DCU, but it certainly has many fans nervous about the future of the franchise. If this new cinematic universe struggles with a central character like the Dark Knight, it may have trouble with other pillars of its continuity as well.

For those catching up, on Friday, Warner Bros. moved The Batman Part II back a full year on its schedule. That’s the sequel to Matt Reeves’ Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson, which DC Studios is calling an “Elseworlds” story, set in a different continuity from the DCU. After the news broke, DCU mastermind James Gunn wrote on Threads that “The only reason for the delay is that there isn’t a full script… Matt [Reeves] is committed to making the best film he possibly can, and no one can accurately guess exactly how long a script will take to write. Once there is a finished script, there is around two years for pre-production, shooting, and post-production on big films.”

Gunn is pretty open with fans on Threads, and has said that he hasn’t seen a complete first draft script for The Batman Part II yet. That contradicts other reports about the movie’s progress, but many fans are prepared to take Gunn’s word for it.

Meanwhile, on Friday we also learned that the DCU’s first Batman title The Brave and the Bold is not making much progress right now, from director Andy Muschietti. He appeared on a podcast where he said “The Batman project has been postponed a little bit. I might do another film before that.” This isn’t a delay per se, since The Brave and the Bold had no release date before, but it doesn’t bode well either.

Points and Counterpoints

There are a few reasons these updates have some fans feeling pessimistic. On the simplest level, they are disappointing because fans simply want to see their favorite Caped Crusader on the big screen sooner rather than later. For another, many see Batman as a central figure in the DC cosmos, and they question how the story can get very far without him. More generally, they question the DCU’s execution of other heroes if it can’t get a familiar and popular character like Batman up and running.

These concerns have their merit — especially right now when all we can do is sit and wonder. However, there are relevant rebuttals to think about as well. For starters, there’s a good chance we’ll meet the DCU’s Batman long before The Brave and the Bold comes out. The character could appear in Superman for all we know, not to mention Supergirl, Clayface, The Authority, Lanterns and all the other titles in the works.

As for the last point, it works just as well in reverse. The DCU may be putting Batman on the backburner because he’s so familiar to moviegoers. Gunn has said he doesn’t want to rehash Batman or Superman’s origin stories because audiences have seen them too many times, so perhaps he plans to slot Batman in later. That might require some creative reorienting for the creation of the Justice League, but it wouldn’t be too much of a change.

The Batman in the DCU

Finally, many fans seem to be disappointed about these delays because they were hoping Pattinson’s Batman would still have a chance to become the Batman of the DCU. If you support this idea, the delay is probably bad news for you. If The Batman Part II came out sooner, it would have a better chance of making a big impact and tempting Gunn into making it DCU canon. On the other hand, the delay means more time for The Batman and DCU continuities to diverge from each other, and for both of them to become too convoluted to combine later on down the line.

Again, keep in mind that all we’re doing is speculating for fun while the studio cooks up surprises for us. The Batman Part II is currently scheduled to hit theaters on Oct. 1, 2027. The Brave and the Bold has no release date yet, but the DCU hits the big screen on July 11, 2025 with Superman.