Of all the key characters James Gunn’s DCU must nail, Batman is the most difficult to get right. Following the Warner Bros Discovery merger, it was clear that the DC Universe and DC Films as a whole would be reworked. Those changes came even faster than many imagined as James Gunn and Peter Safran are now co-leading DC Studios, which will oversee DC projects not only for the big screen but also for TV and even video games. A complete DC reboot has not been confirmed, but it cannot be ruled out as Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 3 is no longer happening, suggesting major DCU shakeups.
As of now, there are three live-action movie versions of Batman across all DC franchises. Ben Affleck’s Batman will return in The Flash, making it his first theatrical appearance as Batman in the last five years. Previously, Affleck had also shot additional scenes for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Snyder’s four-hour cut of Justice League that was released on HBO Max. On March 2022, The Batman, a new Batman movie reboot with no connections to the DCU starring Robert Pattinson was released. In addition, Michael Keaton will make his Batman comeback in The Flash and was supposed to be in Batgirl before the project was canceled. As such, Batman has become the DCU’s trickiest character.
Ben Affleck’s Batman Story Was Tied To The Snyderverse
Until a complete reboot happens or The Flash somehow changes the timeline, Ben Affleck is still the DCU’s Batman. In other words, Ben Affleck is Batman in the chronology of DC movies that began with Man of Steel. Affleck was cast by Zack Snyder for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with Snyder’s pitch being of an older, The Dark Knight Returns-inspired Batman at the end of his career. Considering that Zack Snyder was envisioning a five-movie-arc consisting of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and three Justice League movies, it made sense for the DCEU’s Batman to be an older version of the character.
However, Snyder’s five-movie arc and the studios’ plans for the DC Universe obviously had some differences. Other non-Justice League movies such as Suicide Squad and potential Harley Quinn spinoffs were already happening, meaning that the DCEU would likely need a Batman even after Snyder concluded his Justice League story. Not only that, but Ben Affleck was set to write, direct, produce, and star in his own Batman movie. Despite Ben Affleck deciding not to make his solo Batman movie and DC greenlighting a Batman reboot, the DCEU continued to exist. Now rebranded as the DCU, the DC shared universe needs a Batman.
Still, Affleck’s Batman is tied to the Snyderverse, just like every other Justice League character. That is not to say Batman and other Justice League heroes can only work in Snyder’s Justice League films, only that these versions of the character are tied with a specific continuity of films. Therefore, Ben Affleck as Batman means, for example, that Henry Cavill is Superman and Gal Gadot is Wonder Woman. At the same time, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn in a movie will always mean that Ben Affleck is Batman in that continuity. As such, keeping Ben Affleck’s version of Batman means that a clean slate for DC Studios will never be possible, or at the very least, awkward to change.
Michael Keaton & Ben Affleck In The Flash Make The DCU’s Future Confusing
Whether the DCU will be rebooted is difficult to say, but The Flash is already making the franchise’s future more confusing. Considering that The Flash has been in production since before the Warner Bros. Discovery merger and the formation of DC Studios, whatever was planned for the film’s aftermath regarding the DCU canon may no longer be necessary. Still, until a reboot happens, the events of The Flash will surely have an impact on the DCU. The Flash is confirmed to deal with both time travel and the multiverse, the latter of which explains how Michael Keaton can return as Batman in a DCU movie.
Whatever changes Barry Allen caused to the timeline in The Flash, they were supposed to have an impact on the DCU, at least before the Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Michael Keaton was confirmed to be in Batgirl, which would have been a DCEU movie set after the events of The Flash. J.K. Simmons, who played Commissioner Gordon in Justice League and shared the screen with Ben Affleck’s Batman, was also going to be in Batgirl. Therefore, Batgirl reveals that, after The Flash, Michael Keaton’s Batman would have somehow become part of the main DCEU timeline. However, with Batgirl now canceled, the future of both Keaton’s Batman and Affleck’s Batman remains a mystery.
DC’s Most Promising Batman Is Not Part Of The DCU
DC has a promising, widely praised Batman movie that could become the starting point for a successful Batman franchise, yet it is not part of the DCU. Matt Reeves’ The Batman was the first solo Batman film since Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, and while it was not an origin story, it rebooted the Batman franchise with a "year two" Bruce Wayne played by Robert Pattinson. The Batman came to be right as the future of the DCEU became uncertain following Justice League, with the studio prioritizing a new Batman reboot with a clean slate. The Batman was a commercial and critical success, but DC’s shared universe continued to exist.
That is why, for the first time in the history of DC films, there is more than one version of Batman existing at the same time. While it doesn’t seem like either Ben Affleck’s Batman or Michael Keaton’s Batman will receive a solo movie, Batman is still a significant part of the DCU, while The Batman remains in a separate universe. More than multiverse semantics, what truly makes The Batman stand apart from the DCU is how the film is set in a far more grounded, realistic world. There are no superpowers or magic in The Batman, with the Matt Reeves movie bringing Batman back to his detective origins.
Who Will Be Batman In James Gunn’s DCU?
James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DCU has a few different options regarding Batman, and it all hinges on whether this new DCU will be a reboot or not. The first possibility is simply continuing with Ben Affleck’s Batman, assuming that a reboot won’t happen, and that Affleck is still open to playing Batman. The second option is adding Michael Keaton to the main DCU timeline, similar to what would have happened in Batgirl, with Affleck’s Batman no longer being part of the franchise. However, if a reboot happens, then neither of those options works. James Gunn’s DCU would therefore need a new Batman.
If Gunn and Safran’s DC Studios is building a new DC Universe from scratch, there are only two answers to the “Batman problem”. One is creating this out of The Batman, with the Matt Reeves Batman movie retroactively serving as the first movie of this new DCU. Indeed, there are reports Pattinson's Batman could be canon in Gunn's DCU, though that very much remains to be seen. This option would surely lead to changes in The Batman’s franchise, but it would incorporate an already successful franchise into a larger universe. Alternatively, James Gunn’s DCU could have a different Batman actor entirely, with The Batman remaining in a separate universe.
