James Gunn Confirms Robert Pattinson Will Not Be the DCU’s Batman

Sorry, Battinson fans, Robert Pattinson will not be the Batman for the DCU. The studio has hinted at this several times now, but DC Studio co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran reiterated it with finality at a press event that ComicBook attended last week. They praised The Batman and Pattinson’s performance but said that they have their own plans for Batman going into the “Gods and Monsters” story arc. They also referenced their only Batman-specific title on the slate, The Brave and the Bold, though some fans are still hoping we’ll see the Caped Crusader before then in another DCU title.

Members of the press asked Gunn and Safran about the persistent rumors that Pattinson would play Batman in the DCU, but Gunn shot it down. “It’s certainly not the plan. Like, it’s certainly not the plan,” he said. He nodded along as Safran praised Pattinson while also shutting the door on this rumor.

“And we love him,” Safran said. “But we’ve got to introduce a Batman into the DCU. It’s imperative, and so that’s the plan with Brave and the Bold.”

While DC Comics adaptations haven’t kept up with the MCU in recent years, Batman has always stood out on the big screen and in pop culture generally as a reliably compelling protagonist. That’s why many fans have been continually surprised as the plans for the DCU take shape without Batman at their center. Gunn and Safran have said that they want to avoid familiar origin stories and expand this franchise with stories fans may not have seen before, and so far, their plans seem to be going that way.

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The DCU hits the big screen this summer with Superman, followed by Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow in 2026. After that, a surprising Batman villain gets the next stand-alone movie slot — Clayface in September of 2026. The movies that come after that aren’t scheduled yet, but the order seems to be The Authority followed by The Brave and the Bold, then Swamp Thing.

While Batman gets just one out of those six titles, two others are for villains he has often battled before. The TV side seems to have even less need for a Dark Knight, featuring Peacemaker, Lanterns, Waller, Booster Gold, and Paradise Lost — the prequel about Wonder Woman’s home island. Still, fans can’t be thrown off the scent — many expect Batman to turn up in the shadows where he’s least expected, and only time will tell if they’re right.

As for Pattinson, The Batman sequel is scheduled to begin filming later this year and is expected to premiere on October 1, 2027. In the meantime, there’s plenty of Batman streaming on Max.