Although there is only one entry in Matt Reeves's The Batman series, its incredible popularity has spawned a lot of questions regarding its future and the possibility of a shared universe. The 2022 film stars Robert Pattinson as the titular superhero, and its critical and box-office success created plenty of excitement for the future of the franchise. Now, with news of several potential spin-offs and sequels, there is a lot to unpack regarding the development of a shared universe revolving around The Batman.
Although The Batman is a fairly small-scale story, following Batman as he investigates a series of murders orchestrated by The Riddler, the film has already set up a fairly expansive cast of characters operating within Gotham city. Many of the franchise's most popular heroes and villains appear in The Batman, including Catwoman, The Penguin, Carmine Falcone, and even The Joker. DC clearly wants to capitalize on the success of The Batman, and with this immense potential, the slow drip feed of DC's future plans has brought about a lot of questions, all of which will be answered here.
What Are Matt Reeves' The Batman Universe Plans?
From its inception, Matt Reeves' The Batman was intended to be the first entry in a new trilogy, with most of the series' primary cast members signing on for multiple films in 2019. On top of that, two spin-off series were announced before The Batman even released, with both of them set to be HBO Max exclusives. Unlike most of DC's other projects, it was originally planned for The Batman to be separate from the DCEU, following in the footsteps of Joker's massive success. Since the release of The Batman even more spin-offs have been announced (although an earlier spin-off was scrapped), and while story details are still vague, DC definitely has major plans for the future of The Batman universe.
Is The Batman 2 Happening?
Although news regarding The Batman's status as the start of a trilogy has been circling since plans for the film initially released, very little was officially said about The Batman 2. However, The Batman 2 was finally announced at CinemaCon in April 2022, being one of the expo's biggest announcements. Few details were given about the sequel besides the return of Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson, but the official announcement means that The Batman 2 is definitely happening, and it is closer than ever.
Which The Batman Spinoffs Are Officially In The Works?
Currently, there are two The Batman spin-offs officially in the works, the first of which is a series centered around The Penguin. Colin Farrell's Oswald Cobblepot was one of The Batman's standout performances, and after playing a major role in the story of the first film, The Penguin will be getting his own HBO Max limited series. Matt Reeves has explained that the show will focus on The Penguin climbing up the criminal underworld, filling the power vacuum created at the end of The Batman, with the director comparing the series to Scarface.
The second official spin-off is a little more complicated. In July 2020, a series focused on the Gotham City Police Department was announced, with the HBO Max show acting as a prequel to The Batman. However, the series saw serious production troubles when showrunner Terence Winter left the series in November 2020. After Winter's departure, he was replaced by Joe Barton, who wanted the series to focus on corrupt cops within the GCPD, something HBO was opposed to, according to Matt Reeves in an interview with Deadline. The original concept for the GCPD show was eventually scrapped, with it changing directions to focus on the Arkham State Hospital. Now fully reinvented as a series telling origin stories of the hospital's residents, the currently untitled Arkham series will be the second spin-off in The Batman universe.
Which Other The Batman Spinoffs Are Reportedly Happening?
The Penguin and Arkham series are far from the only spin-offs that are happening in The Batman shared universe. In October 2022, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Warner Bros. Discovery and Matt Reeves are developing several spin-off movies focused on various villains in Batman's rogues gallery, with three characters being specifically mentioned: Scarecrow, Clayface, and Professor Pyg. Reportedly, meetings are already occurring with various writers and directors, meaning that this new line of The Batman spin-off villain movies could very well be happening.
Will Superman Or Other DC Heroes Appear In The Batman's Shared Universe?
One of the biggest questions regarding The Batman's shared universe is if non-Batman DC characters will appear in the various sequels and movies. While this is an exciting prospect, in short, it's probably not happening. In an interview with Collider, Matt Reeves explains his disinterest in creating a border DC universe, with him clarifying that, while anything is possible down the line, The Batman was envisioned as solely a Bat-verse. Reeves goes on to explain his story philosophy of "taking the one fantastical element and then have everything around it, so it'll be as grounded as possible," something that can be seen in his Cloverfield and Planet of the Apes movies. While changes could always be made, Reeves' original plans for The Batman's shared universe seem to exclude other DC heroes like Superman.
Is The Batman's Shared Universe Still Separate From The DCEU?
With The Batman's popularity, questions about the DCEU and Robert Pattinson's status in it are constantly arising. From its beginning, The Batman was planned to be separate from the DCEU, and there has been no evidence to suggest that plans have changed. Technically, The Batman universe may be part of the DCEU multiverse, meaning a cameo or crossover could happen. However, Robert Pattinson's Batman will probably never be the DCEU's main caped crusader.
What Does The Batman's Shared Universe Mean For Other Batman Actors?
Robert Pattinson's Batman is clearly the main Batman that DC is attempting to build up, as all the various spin-offs and sequels are set to be part of The Batman's shared universe rather than the DCEU. However, there are still other Batman actors running around, so what's going on with them? While Ben Affleck was initially the DCEU's main Batman, he seemingly left the franchise after Justice League, leading to the development of Robert Pattinson's iteration. However, it was recently revealed that Ben Affleck's Batman will return in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, meaning that both versions of Batman will simultaneously be on the big screen. While Pattinson's Batman will focus on more traditional stories involving Gotham, Ben Affleck's DCEU Batman will presumably feature stories involving the Justice League and the wider DCEU universe.
It has also been announced that Michael Keaton's Batman will be added to the DCEU, making appearances in The Flash and the canceled Batgirl film. Now that Keaton's Batman is returning, he will most likely coexist with Affleck's Batman, both of whom exist separately from Pattinson's Batman. Compared to Pattinson and Affleck, Keaton's Batman will probably fill a supporting role, acting as a legacy character among the DCEU's main heroes. While having three Batman iterations on the big screen at once may be complicated, the best way to get classic Batman stories will be to keep up with The Batman's expansive shared universe.
