Earlier today, James Gunn announced The Suicide Squad: Is It Canon? one-off podcast, which will (presumably) address and clarify what elements of the filmmaker's 2021 movie have and have not carried over to the DCU.
A clip from the podcast has now been shared online, and it finds the DC Studios co-CEO dropping a couple of intriquing updates about what we can expect from the DCU's Batman.
Gunn confirms that the next big-screen Dark Knight has not been cast yet, while also noting that an announcement "isn't very far" away. The filmmaker also said that he will consider all possibilities, even if it turns out to be an actor he has already cast in a smaller DC role.
"I'm gonna take everyone into account. One of the things that excites me is... being able to pick a Batman who's actually the best actor for that role. Superman has always been based on who the best actor for that role is, and for some reason, Batmans are always chosen as movie stars."
When Peacemaker actor Steve Agee asked about the character's age, Gunn indicated that the DCU's Bruce Wayne will be "roughly" the same age as David Corenswet's Superman, putting the rumors that DC Studios is looking for a much older actor to play the iconic hero to rest.
Gunn has previously confirmed that creative plans for Batman have changed since we first learned that a new take on the iconic hero would make his debut in The Brave and the Bold. Fans suspected as much, anyway, since Gunn has admitted that he was finding it difficult to come up with a satisfactory way of introducing a brand-new Dark Knight to the burgeoning shared universe.
A user recently asked Gunn the following on Threads: “James, have the plans for DCU Batman changed creatively in some way since the 2023 announcement of The Brave and the Bold?” Gunn replied with a brief, “Yep.”
This obviously doesn't give us much to go on, and could mean any number of things. Will Batman still debut in The Brave and the Bold, or could it be sooner?
Peter Safran was asked about DC's "duelling Batmans" during an interview with IGN, and assured fans that Reeves recently pausing production to deal with a personal issue will not result in the sequel being shelved.
"We've got Batman: Part Two and [the animated film] Dynamic Duo in 2028. Listen, I couldn't be more excited about the plans that we have over the next five years and, obviously, a lot of them, we're just not able to talk about yet, but I think you're never going to please everybody, but I have a feeling that people are going to be excited about what we have coming up. And, again, Batman: Part Two, everybody's aware of the issues we're having right now, but, what we've seen so far of the shoot, it looked absolutely fantastic and Matt Reeves is a supremely talented filmmaker. Dynamic Duo is, for my money, as original today as Pixar was when they did Toy Story so we're really excited about that. Obviously, Man of Tomorrow's in post [production] right now."
Gunn recently debunked a rumor that Batman: The Brave and the Bold had been put on hold until the WBD/Paramount merger is settled, but even when (if?) the movie does enter production, will Andy Muschietti be at the helm?
When the news broke that Muschietti had been chosen to helm the project, Gunn and fellow DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran said they enlisted the filmmaker on the strength of his work on The Flash. This was before The Flash hit theaters, and the movie's underperformance at the box office (it actually received a mostly positive critical reception) led to speculation that Muschietti may have been taken off the project.