DC Studios has a Batman problem, and it should have been resolved years ago. With The Batman Part II getting delayed to 2028 today, it’s become abundantly clear that James Gunn should have canceled the Matt Reeves sequel (with the rest of the DCEU) when he took over DC Studios in late 2022.
Matt Reeves’ sequel is harder to justify as James Gunn’s DCU still waits for its own Batman
Look, I’m not saying this because I hate The Batman (2022). In fact, there’s nothing I’d love more than to see a six-film Batman saga with Reeves behind the camera and Robert Pattinson in the title role covering the Caped Crusader’s early years up into his prime crime-fighting days. It’s simply a case of “right person, wrong time.”
I like what The Batman Epic Crime Saga is doing, but I don’t want it if it means the debut of DC Universe’s Batman is getting delayed. We’re now on our fourth release date change for The Batman Part II. This movie was originally supposed to hit theaters last October and now won’t arrive until February 2028. It’s easy to look back and think Gunn should have known Reeves would spend too long writing the screenplay, but it’s more than just that.
Gunn had no issue erasing all the plans DC had teased with Henry Cavill’s Superman following his long-awaited return in Black Adam in favor of making his own Superman movie. If Reeves didn’t want to play ball and merge his Batman into the DCU, which Gunn reportedly unsuccessfully floated by him, then Gunn should have made the difficult decision to cancel The Batman Part II in favor of building a truly unified shared universe.
Every time The Batman Part II gets delayed, it’s hurting the DCU, because the DCU needs Batman. He’s DC’s biggest superhero. He should be in the DCU by now (animated silhouette in Creature Commandos aside) or at least have his movie, The Brave and the Bold, in production.
But now, it’s unlikely we’ll see the DCU’s Batman until 2029 at the earliest. There’s no way Gunn will introduce the DCU version until after The Batman Part II is released. But with a looming Paramount/Warner Bros. merger, will the DCU even be around by then?
Supergirl bombing in theaters (after Superman didn’t exactly set the box office on fire either) should make a DCU Batman movie a high priority. Batman makes money at the box office. In a sane world, he’d be the hero you start a shared universe with.
Instead, Gunn is letting Reeves play in the Elseworlds. And where does it end? If Part II is a success, will DC Studios be forced to let Reeves make a Part III? Will the DCU debut of Batman be delayed again?
Unless Gunn is about to pull a fast one on us and have Corenswet’s Superman show up in Batman Part II’s post-credits scene confirming they exist in the same world (again, unlikely), the decision not to scrap the sequel and get the DCU’s Batman introduced as soon as possible will be looked back on as one of the biggest fumbles under Gunn’s DC Studios tenure.
Where’s The Flash when you need him to turn back time, huh?
