Batman: The Brave & The Bold looks to be in limbo, as decisions need to made at Warner Bros over the Dark Knight’s future.
In the last decade, Warner Bros got itself into a bit of a pickle over who was to play the Joker across it range of Batman-related film and TV projects. The allegedly disgraced Jared Leto had been cast in the role in 2016’s Suicide Squad, and then was apparently not best pleased when Joaquin Phoenix took on the character in 2019’s Joker.
The point being that for a moment, Warner Bros considered having two Jokers active in its screen world, and then backed away from the idea.
Now, it’s doing the same with Batman.
Before James Gunn landed the role of DC Studios’ creative boss, Matt Reeves had been hired to deliver what ultimately became the successful 2022 film, The Batman. Robert Pattinson took on the title role, and when Gunn started talking about also working up Batman: The Brave And The Bold – with the Dark Knight alongside Robin – the idea was that these would be two Batman big screen franchises at the same time, with two different actors as Batman.
That plan, apparently, is now on hold.
Andy Muschietti, of It and The Flash, was set to direct Batman: The Brave & The Bold, but the story now is that his film is on hold, pending the ongoing merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. That the new owners, assuming the deal ultimately goes through, will make the final call.
Against this backdrop, after a long wait, filming is now underway on The Batman Part II, which won’t be in cinemas until 2028. That’ll be over five years since the first movie came out.
Meanwhile, there’s another Superman film next summer (it used to be Superman that Warner Bros and DC struggled to work out what to do with!), with Clayface the next DC Universe film toddling along, this October.
As for Batman? It may yet be that the Robert Pattinson tenure needs to run its course, assumed to be a trilogy. But that leaves Gotham City in some degree of limbo.
Where’s the late Joel Schumacher when you need him, eh?
