James Gunn Debunks Report Robert Pattinson's Batman Is Joining Wider DC Universe
Robert Pattinson's Batman will not be joining DC's interconnected universe of characters, according to DC Studios chief James Gunn. The filmmaker took to social media today, not long after a report suggested that adding the world of Matt Reeves's The Batman to the mainline continuity was an idea that was very much on the table. Not so much, Gunn said, telling the reporter who originally broke the story that he needed to get a new source. This is all part of a carousel of rumors and denials that have been going on since Gunn and Peter Safran took over the studio.
Gunn and Safran have said they plan to have a more connected TV, film, animation, and video game universe as part of their DC revitalization scheme. This has left a lot of fans curious as to how such a plan would reconcile non-shared-universe projects like The Batman or Superman & Lois, and that curiosity has made fertile ground for rumors.
"There are few reporters I love more than [Adam B. Vary]," Gunn tweeted. "[He is] truly a good guy – but in this case he needs to get a new source as this is entirely untrue."
Reeves's The Batman has a sequel in the works, and two different TV spinoffs that have been in development, with no official announcement that either is dead yet.
The Batman earned $770 million on a reported $185 to $200 million budget, which was enough to give Warner Bros. the idea they were headed in the right direction. And while it didn't eclipse the $1 billion mark globally, it did earn $369 million at the domestic box office, putting it at #4 on DC's all-time chart there (behind The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and Wonder Woman).
It was also a bright spot amid years of disappointing box office returns for DC, including this year's Black Adam. Some of that can be chalked up to Warner Bros. expecting too much -- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was deemed a failure despite making almost $900 million -- but in some cases, movies just underperformed. The Batman landed right around where it was expected to.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has suggested that the idea of having multiple different actors playing Batman throughout different continuities is something he finds untenable -- which is going to be an issue going into 2023's The Flash, in which Ben Affleck appears as the Dark Knight, followed by Michael Keaton reprising his role as Bruce Wayne's multiversal doppelganger. There have been rumors for a while that Keaton would take over the role from Affleck, but there seems to be some doubt that will come to pass following the management changes at Warners and DC.