Movies

The Batman Will Be Its Own Universe Separate From the DCEU

The Batman movie reboot is getting a TV spinoff series on HBO Max, which will focus on the Gotham […]

The Batman movie reboot is getting a TV spinoff series on HBO Max, which will focus on the Gotham Police Department. The official announcement from Warner Bros TV came with a lot of details, but one line of description regarding the project actually reveals a crucial piece of information about this new Batman franchise. Warner Bros has stated that the new Gotham PD TV series, “will be set in the world Reeves is creating for the feature film “The Batman,” with the intent being to launch a new Batman universe across multiple platforms.” In other words: The Batman is building its own universe, separate from the DCEU franchise.

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The question of how The Batman would (or would not) fit together with the rest of the DC Movie franchise has always been in fans’ minds. When it was revealed that Matt Reeves wasn’t going to have Ben Affleck as his Batman, and a new actor (Robert Pattinson) was cast, the question became even more pressing: would The Batman be a standalone trilogy (like The Dark Knight Trilogy); would it somehow connect back to Zack Snyder’s DCEU films saga (like Pattinson being a younger version of Batfleck); or would The Batman open the door to a whole Batman universe of its own standing?

The latter case is something DC did already with its animated universe, which basically ran with alternating Justice League universe and Batman universe feature-films throughout the 2010s. It’s also something that fans have been debating for years, as Nolan’s Batman Trilogy didn’t feel like it fleshed out the world of Gotham City enough – but getting a new Batman to replace Ben Affleck in a larger DC movie universe seemed impossibly awkward. Reeves seems like the first filmmaker to take ‘Option C’ by constructing an entire franchise world around his Batman, which could lead to any number of new projects – both in the movies and on TV.

Obviously this confirmation of The Batman Universe only raises a hundred other questions, like which characters could be featured (Nightwing, Batgirl, Renee Montaya’s Question); what other big DCEU characters will be recast (Jared Leto’s Joker and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn); and which properties get movies as opposed to long-form TV shows. Fans will have plenty to say on that front, and it will be interesting to see what WB TV announces for this The Batman Universe, next.

The Batman is slated to hit theaters on October 1, 2021.