Batman remains DC's flagship character, but James Gunn's DC Studios has understandably decided to focus on restoring Superman to his former glory before rebooting the Dark Knight.
It likely helps that the vigilante already has a big screen franchise, with Matt Reeves' The Batman Part II currently in development with Robert Pattinson set to reprise his role as Bruce Wayne. The question remains, though: who will be the DCU's Caped Crusader?
Many fans are convinced today that Wicked star Jonathan Bailey could be a contender based on a recent social media like by Gunn.
The Bridgerton actor is 36 and 5'11", so by no means a bad fit for Batman. If Bailey were cast in the role, then he'd also be the first openly gay actor to play this character in live-action. The British actor will also star in next year's Jurassic World Rebirth.
Honestly, though, we wouldn't put too much stock in this because it's not like Gunn is going to "announce" a major casting addition like this with a like! This may have put Bailey on his radar, though, and fans have mostly responded positively to the idea of him donning the cape and cowl.
DC Studios isn't thought to be close to casting Batman and we may not get news on who will play the hero until deep into 2025, if not later. Gunn also faces a unique challenge in the sense that he needs to time any announcements, and even the movie's release, with Reeves' Bat-verse plans.
"There’s no set timeline for anything," Gunn recently said of his approach to casting the DCU's Batman. "The one thing that I’ve tried to make clear to people from the beginning, in the way that I hope we're different, is that everything in DC is going to be based on the writers. Until we have a screenplay that I’m totally happy with, that movie is not going to get made, no matter what it is. "
"So, we have been really fortunate with some screenplays. You know, Supergirl came in and just, wow Ana [Nogueria] did such an amazing job, the Lanterns pilot came in, and now the whole 'Lanterns' series came in, and it's like 'Wow that's wonderful, wonderful work.' And there's a couple of other things that people don't know about, a couple of movies and TV shows that are greenlit or near greenlit."
He added, "But it's going to be based always on that, on the story, because at the end of the day if we're happy with the story that we're telling, that's what matters most. And once The Brave and the Bold gets to that point, then we'll make the movie."
Andy Muschietti has been tapped to direct The Brave and the Bold, and the movie's story will revolve around Bruce Wayne training his son, Damian, as Robin, adapting elements from Morrison and Frank Quitely's critically acclaimed Batman and Robin.
The Brave and The Bold still doesn't have a confirmed release date.