Matt Reeves Declares “Batman Will Be Batman”; Remain In Universe
by Erik Amaya
The Batman director Matt Reeves offered his own take on the latest DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. rumblings.
Following on a day of red skies and other Crisis-like events, The Batman director took to Twitter to clear up one possible misconception about the coming change to the so-called DC Extended Universe.
Jeez, what’d I miss, guys…? 😀
Just to be clear: Of COURSE Batman will be part of the D.C. Universe. Batman will be BATMAN…— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) August 24, 2017
The tweet contradicts reports he said the film will not be part of the DCEU in a month-old episode of a KCRW podcast. At the time, Reeves said, “It’s a standalone, it’s not part of the extended universe.” Of course, the DC Extended Universe is a place of infinite crisis, with projects changing, losing directors, or vanishing overnight. So its possible The Batman was suppose to stand alone, but has since swung back into the DCEU. Or it’s more damage control from an increasingly erratic situation at Warner Bros. Pictures.
Reeves comments last month only came to light after Warner Bros. announced plans to develop an out-of-universe Joker origins project with The Hangover‘s Todd Phillips and producer Martin Scorsese. Soon after, various sites learned David Ayer’s Gotham City Sirens project was no more, replaced by another Joker project. This one, separate from the Joker origins project, will feature Jared Leto and Margot Robbie reprising their Suicide Squad roles as Joker and Harley Quinn.
Despite what is no doubt good intentions by all filmmakers involved, the flow of information and the revelation that there are two Joker projects in the works only fed the perception that Warner Bros. has lost confidence in its plan to build a film universe around the DC superheroes. Meanwhile, films like Justice League, Aquaman and Wonder Woman 2 continue apace at their various stages of production.
Nevertheless, there are plenty of rumors and conjecture to be bandied about as these new projects get underway. The story also changes quickly. At one point last night, The Hollywood Reporter was sure The Batman was a standalone project with a new actor coming in to play a younger Batman; but the report was quickly retracted.
