James Gunn Calls Batman His Biggest Problem in the DC Universe
When you're in charge of DC, there are three things you know you have to get right: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. That's why, when James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios in 2023, plans were immediately put in place for the Holy Trinity of the company. The first part of that, Superman, is about to come to the big screen on July 11, but the other two pieces are still in flux.
'Batman's my biggest issue in all of DC right now, personally,' Gunn told Rolling Stone. 'And it's not—I'm not writing Batman, but I am working with the writer of Batman and trying to get it right, because he's incredibly important to DC, as is Wonder Woman. So outside of the stuff that I'm doing in the projects that are actively going, our two priorities are finishing our Wonder Woman and our Batman scripts.'
As Gunn announced last week, a Wonder Woman movie is currently being written and, he feels, it's coming together quicker than a Batman movie for one simple reason. There's just been less of her. 'Wonder Woman I think is actually easier for me, because there haven't been so many infinite portrayals of Wonder Woman—definitely not in movies, but really anywhere—that there have been of Batman,' Gunn said. 'Every single Batman story has been told. It seems like half the comics that have come out of DC over the past 30 years have Batman in them. He's the most famous superhero in the world and the most popular superhero in the world. And people love him because he's interesting, but also having so much of him out there can also make him boring. So how do you create that property that's fun to watch?'
That's one of the reasons a DC Universe Batman film, still currently under the title The Brave and the Bold, has been tough for Gunn and his team to crack. 'Batman has to have a reason for existing, right?' Gunn said. 'So Batman can't just be 'Oh, we're making a Batman movie because Batman's the biggest character in all of Warner Bros.,' which he is. But because there's a need for him in the DCU and a need that he's not exactly the same as Matt [Reeves]'s Batman. But yet he's not a campy Batman. I'm not interested in that. I'm not interested in a funny, campy Batman, really. So we're dealing with that. I think I have a way in, by the way. I think I really know what it's— I just am dealing with the writer to make sure that we can make it a reality.'
Of course, Gunn already has not just one Batman in reality—Robert Pattinson's aforementioned Batman, who'll next be seen in the 2027 film The Batman Part II. Gunn is still very, very insistent that the new DC Batman won't be played by Pattinson but even he admits that could change eventually. 'I would never say zero [chance of Pattinson joining the DCU], because you just never know,' Gunn said. 'But it's not likely. It's not likely at all. I'll also say Batman Part II is not canceled. That's the other thing I hear all the time—that Batman Part II is canceled. It's not canceled. We don't have a script. Matt's slow. Let him take his time. Let him do what he's doing. God, people are mean. Let him do his thing, man.'
Let Gunn do his thing, too. He clearly knows the importance of these star characters in the DC Universe. And, when he tackles them, he wants them to be right. We'll see the first iteration of that next month when Superman comes to theaters July 11 and read more from Gunn over at Rolling Stone.
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