Barbarian Director Reveals Batman Spinoff Movie for DC Films

Barbarian director Zach Cregger is enjoying his new horror film being at the top of the box in its opening weekend, but his plans for the future extend all the way to the DC Films Universe. In a new interview for Barbarian’s release, Zach Cregger spoke about what he’s working on next: one project is a new horror film that’s “way more ambitious” and “weirder” than Barbarian; the other is a film that is “set in the DC Universe,” and would be a “Batman-adjacent thing.” 

Apparently, Cregger isn’t just doing this as a lighthearted whim: he told Bloody-Disgusting’s Boo Crew Podcast that this Batman spinoff is something very near and dear to him: “I wrote it and I’m utterly obsessed with it. So one day… I want to make that.” 

No further details on what the project would be or which Batman characters it was focused on. There’s similarly no real indication of just how close or far away Cregger’s film is from actually being considered by DC Films. 

Zach Cregger is just getting started as a major feature-film director but in the landscape of the modern Batman movie franchise, that doesn’t mean he’s out of the running. Warner Bros. and DC Films have been willing to take chances on something like Todd Phillips’ Joker – which is the sort of project that someone like Zach Cregger could definitely handle. Matt Reeves The Batman is expanding into a whole universe with Penguin and Arkham Asylum TV spinoffs – so again, there is plenty of room for an up-and-coming director to get in on a “Batman-adjacent” sort of project. 

The current Batman line of DC Comics has also opened up a number of new possibilities for what Batman-brand film projects could be. The Bat-family of supporting characters offers any number of fun possibilities; there are chapters of Batman’s life that are being told in spectacular fashion (Batman: The Knight); and characters like Jim Gordon and Joker have stepped out into their own story arcs that widen the scope of the DC underworld. That’s not to mention the various famous Batman non-canon stories that are still waiting for a live-action adaptation. 

One thing is for sure: Barbarian is such a uniquely standout horror movie experience that seeing Cregger take on a DC project would be intriguing, at the very least. 

MORE: Zach Cregger’s Barbarian (Review)