*MINOR SUPERMAN SPOILERS*
I wanna talk a bit about the potential of Gunn’s Batman in the DCU, if you’ll indulge me.
I watched Superman yesterday (cried three times, proudly) and aside from leaving the theater with a renewed sense of faith in the human capacity for goodness and a fundamentally refreshed outlook on life, I was also extremely impressed with how vast this new universe already feels. I mean, we have a proto-Justice League, multiple named comic corporations, pocket universes, interdimensional beings, and a long history of metahumans already established. The fact that this was presented so unobtrusively in a 2-hour movie was a feat, and really gets me excited for how brazenly weird and Silver Age this new saga is going to be. Hell, it’s titled ‘Gods and Monsters,’ at that. Justice League Dark, I’m waiting for y’all.
And with the astounding new iteration of Superman from David Corenswet, there’s been a flood of comparisons and side-by-sides to Pattinson’s Batman portrayal. And I’ve been eating them up, personally. I adore both these adaptations. They both get the essence of these characters, and they aesthetically look cool together.
I (me, personally, in my own singular opinion, which you are free to disagree with) don’t really want these two to share the screen, at least not as the Superman and Batman of the same universe. Not because I don’t deeply love both their films, but because I want to see a Batman that matches the atmosphere that Superman establishes.
Now when I say this, I’m not saying I want a sanitized, happy Batman gallivanting in the midday sun with Supes all the time; I also want a dark Batman in this universe. But I feel like the context matters. I want this Batman to be dark, in a more comic-booky fashion. I want the dinosaur in the cave, and the hyper-competence we see therein. I want the acrobatics and the staredowns with gods and the gadgets that barely make sense, and a full dive into the frankly insane things Batman can do, “because he’s Batman.” Sue me.
Imo, this is *still* a dark Batman. But he exists in a much more fantastical context than what Reeves is going for with The Batman, and I think that’s ok.
While I love Matt Reeves’ The Batman, and am extremely excited for the sequel, I feel it’d be a bit of a disservice to divorce that character from the grounded reality he’s in just to shove him into the DCU as a late decision. I think we’d get the best of both worlds if we allow for both Reeves’ grounded take on the character AND Gunn’s magic-encountering Batman who is surrounded by his family.
And I’ve seen potential ideas for that Brave and the Bold movie that was floating around before it went kind of quiet, where Bruce has already raised all the Robins before Damian, and that made me so excited! Like, when have we gotten to see a fully developed Batman like that in theaters? If we replace that idea with Battinson, we’d be losing out on Nightwing, Red Hood, Oracle, and the entire network that Bruce eventually builds.
(Side note: I am including Harley as an honorary Batfamily member bc I love it. Seeing her grow from a manipulated villain to one of Batman’s trusted peers is an inspired decision and a uniquely great development)
We’ve seen the origin. We’re seeing a young Batman. Frankly, I’d be disappointed if we didn’t utilize this re-entering into the fantastical to explore EVERYTHING Batman has to offer, all the stories that define him beyond his younger years, and all the unique struggles and conflicts that he has to face upon becoming a mentor, a leader, a father. And hell, we’d really just be seeing both eras at once with two different portrayals. Not even having the cake and eating it — just two whole-ass superhero cakes. And as an artist, I’d also just feel spoiled seeing two actors embody the character in two different, yet equally faithful ways.
Audiences know how the multiverse works at this point. We can have the grounded and the fantastic simultaneously.
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