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Michileen Martin is a contributing entertainment writer located in New York. His focus is on Comics and Comic Book Movies. He has in-depth knowledge of Comics as a whole, being a fan for over 40 years and covering them at Looper, Digital Trends, and Giant Freakin Robot. Michileen joined Newsweek in February 2025. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany. You can get in touch with Michileen by emailing m.martin@newsweek.com. You can find him at Threads @mickmartin182.
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With all the multiverse-hopping making time in comic book movies, along with the success of 2022's "The Batman", plenty of fans were hoping and/or predicting that Robert Pattinson's Batman would make some kind of universe sidestep to become the Caped Crusader for James Gunn's DCU.
Unfortunately for those Batfans, the DC Studios co-head has made it clear he has no plans to make Pattinson the DCU's Batman.
Read more: Robert Pattinson Shares Major Plot Update on 'The Batman 2'
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gunn visibly "bristled" at a question about the DCU "sharing" Pattinson with Matt Reeves, director of "The Batman" and the upcoming "The Batman 2". Gunn confirmed that "no serious conversations" were had about Pattinson playing Batman in the DCU.
Instead, he will continue as part of DC's Elseworlds projects - such as the Todd Phillips-directed "Joker" films - taking place outside the larger DCU narrative.
The confirmation that Pattinson's Batman will remain outside the DCU isn't the only potentially bad news to come out about "The Batman 2". In spite of the reports the sequel is to begin filming later this year, DC Studios co-head Peter Safran told THR Reeves still hasn't turned in a complete script.
"He is yet to turn in a full script, but what we have read so far is incredibly encouraging," Safran said.
This news comes along with the disappointing word that, in spite of its massive success among fans and critics, "The Penguin" may never see a second season. Safran implied that one of the biggest factors was the question of whether or not Colin Farrell would be willing to return considering the physical challenges of the role: "We don't know. There are a lot of moving pieces, probably most importantly Colin himself. And 800 pounds of makeup."
In spite of all the potentially bad news for Batman fans, the good news is that there are still Batman and Batman-related projects on track. Along with the animated "Dynamic Duo" in pre-production, Mike Flanagan's "Clayface" horror film was recently greenlit, featuring the titular Batman villain.
Gunn and Safran also gave updates on "The Brave and the Bold" which promises to not only feature Batman but to introduce his son Damian to live-action. The DC Studios heads are so far keeping the name of "The Brave and the Bold" scriptwriter under wraps, though "The Flash" helmer Andy Muschietti was recently named as director and producer.
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