The Batman 2 Won't Be The 'Stepchild' Of James Gunn's New DC Universe

The news of a new Batman movie that won't star Robert Pattinson (or Ben Affleck) but will feature the Caped Crusader's assassin-trained son, Damian Wayne, may have left some fans wondering about the status of "The Batman 2," which has been officially titled "The Batman: Part II." Specifically, will the sequel to Matt Reeves' "The Batman," which remains unconnected to the main DC Universe, be less of a priority for DC Studios, as it pushes forward with "The Brave and the Bold" and the parallel adventures of a new Batman?

Not so, according to DC Studios co-chairs and co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran, who say Pattinson's Batman will continue to have an important seat at the table (in the Hall of Justice, or wherever they hold their creative summits). /Film's Jenna Busch recently attended a press event for the DC Universe, where Gunn and Safran spoke about plans for "The Batman: Part II." They confirmed that Reeves is working on the sequel and that the plan is for him to make it the middle part of a trilogy of "Batman" films, which won't be the only stories told in the separate shared Bat-universe Reeves is building onscreen.

"He thinks of it as 'The Batman Crime Saga,'" Gunn explained, "which also includes the 'Penguin' TV series. And it is its own thing, and he's hard at work on that. He came in and pitched us some amazing, really cool stuff the other day."

"Batman's not a stepchild," Safran added. "I mean, it's all under DC. We are fully invested in the success of 'The Batman,' just like we are with everything else."

Gunn also talked about making things "balanced" in terms of the release schedule for these films, saying, "'The Brave and the Bold' is not going to be coming out in the same six-month period as 'The Batman: Part II.'"

In DC Comics, there's a robust tradition of Elseworlds tales, where non-canonical stories are free to play out without affecting the central continuity. It seems like Gunn and Safran are approaching Batman's movie adventures the same way. While it might get confusing for some casual viewers if there are suddenly a bunch of different Batmen running around on the big screen ("in hockey pads," no doubt, like the copycat vigilantes in "The Dark Knight"), audiences are well-trained now in the concept of superhero multiverses. And with each film having six months or more to breathe in its own exclusive release window, people should hopefully be able to pick up on the fact that "The Batman: Part II" and "The Brave and The Bold" are as separate as Joaquin Phoenix's Joker and Jared Leto's Joker were.

We've heard elsewhere that Reeves is planning movies about other Batman villains like Scarecrow, Professor Pyg, and Clayface, and Gunn also mentioned "The Penguin" series starring Colin Farrell. It's ready to begin shooting in February, according to Farrell (via Variety), and will take place one week after the events of "The Batman."

As Reeves continues to build out his Bat-universe and Gunn and Safran reboot the DC Universe, we'll just have to compartmentalize the different Batmen in our heads the way comic book readers do: understanding that there can be different versions of the same character, even simultaneous ones, that aren't necessarily meant to inhabit the same reality. If there's one thing Adam West, Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, and other Batmen have shown, it's that you can get a lot of mileage out of the same Bat-dance when you have a strong enough interpretation of it.

"The Batman: Part II" will arrive in theaters on October 3, 2025.