Matt Reeves’ Batman-verse Only Includes His Movies & Penguin Show, Confirms DCU Bosses

Don’t expect an excess of spinoffs for Matt Reeves’ Batman universe. The DC universe is one that is a bit convoluted. If you’re an outsider who thinks the MCU is daunting, try getting into DC. For the most part, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is pretty easy to follow. The bulk of the Marvel movies for the last 15 years or so have been in the MCU or have at least retroactively been made canonical thanks to multiverse tomfoolery like Spider-Man: No Way Home. DC on the other hand has been constantly at war with itself across film and television thanks to a lack of direction. It seems like things are finally starting to become cohesive, with some exceptions.

When DC started to completely overhaul its films and TV, many started to fear what that might mean for Matt Reeves’ Batman movies. After all, James Gunn completely killed off the previous universe and began getting rid of all the former actors, including Henry Cavil. To some extent, it might have been easier to do that to Robert Pattinson as Batman given he’d only had one movie and there wasn’t as much attachment yet. Of course, The Batman was showered in praise and it would be somewhat silly to kick writer/director Matt Reeves to the curb and thankfully, that isn’t happening. Reeves is currently developing The Batman Part 2 as we speak and it sounds like it’s pretty good based on what Robert Pattinson and Andy Serkis have said after speaking to Reeves.

With that said, there are more Batman projects in the works outside of Reeves’ movies. Last year saw the debut of The Penguin which was an astonishing achievement and there have been rumblings of other Batman-adjacent projects that are produced by Matt Reeves such as an animated movie about Robins Dick Grayson and Jason Todd. Are these part of the DCU, are they part of the Matt Reeves universe, or are they just their own thing? We’ve finally gotten to the bottom of all of this chaos.

Matt Reeves’ Batman Universe Will Not Be Part of the DCU, Confirms James Gunn and Peter Safran

During a recent DC Studios event that ComicBook attended, James Gunn and Peter Safran were forthcoming about where each universe begins and ends. For starters, the recently announced Clayface movie is not in the Matt Reeves universe, it will be in the DCU. So, don’t expect Robert Pattinson to show up in the Clayface movie because he won’t exist in that world.

“The only thing that’s in Matt’s world, his crime saga that he’s telling, is the Batman trilogy and the Penguin series,” said Safran. “That’s in that lane. So still under DC Studios, still under us. We have an incredible relationship with Matt, but those are the only things. It was important that Clayface be part of the DCU. It’s an origin story for a classic Batman villain that we want to have in our world.”

It’s quite possible that Clayface will connect to DC Studios’ own Batman film, The Brave and the Bold. That movie is still in development and Gunn noted that a script is being written at this very moment. Clayface could’ve just been an Elseworlds story like Joker, but it was consciously put in this universe. Hopefully, this means DCU’s own Batman will come face-to-face with his villain at some point. Of course, it remains to be seen if that will actually happen, Clayface could be a simple one-off, but it would be exciting to see.

What’s also interesting is that Safran confirmed that Reeves’ Batman movies are being envisioned as a trilogy. It’s no secret that Matt Reeves has seen his Batman movies as a trilogy, but it’s great to hear it from someone else, particularly someone calling the shots. It clearly indicates that DC Studios has long-term plans for Matt Reeves’ Batman and he won’t be finishing the second movie, only to be cast aside for the next Batman in the DC universe.

It’s also worth noting that James Gunn shot down ideas of Robert Pattinson being integrated as the DCU Batman. He noted there are no plans to make that happen at the moment, so those hoping to see these things collide in the future shouldn’t count on it. Things could always change, but it sounds like these will be very separate things going forward.

What do you think of the filmmaker’s remarks? Let us know in the comments below!