The Batman's Batverse Plan Is Perfect (So Why's It Never Happened Before?)
In a recent interview, The Batman’s director has shown interest in continuing to explore the Batverse — something that has never been done before.
In a recent interview, The Batman’s director Matt Reeves has stated that “Gotham’s story never ends” and that he is interested in continuing to explore the Batverse — something that has never been done before. Matt Reeves' statement is good news not only for The Batman but for the future of the franchise as a whole. The newest Batman reboot will mark the character’s first solo film since The Dark Knight Rises after several appearances in crossover movies.
The Batman is a fresh start for the character after all the uncertainty surrounding Batman's future in the DCEU. Matt Reeves has assembled an all-star cast to bring a darker, more realistic version of Batman to life and promises to showcase the detective side of the character. The Batman has been dominated social media and will most likely be one of the biggest box office hits of 2022.
If confirmed, the success of The Batman will enable Matt Reeves to turn the concept of "Gotham's never-ending story" into reality through sequels and spin-offs. In fact, this Batverse is already happening: a GCPD and a Penguin show are in the works on HBO Max. It will be the first time that the saman Batman story will involve two media, film and TV, and it shows how confident the studio is in The Batman. Other elements of Batman mythos such as the Bat-family or the rogues' gallery may also shine brighter in Matt Reeves' Batverse.
Batman's status as a character in the DCEU has been a mystery for the past few years. After Ben Affleck indicated that he was no longer interested in continuing playing the character following his experiences in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, it was announced that Michael Keaton would be back as Batman through multiversal shenanigans in The Flash. Months later, Ben Affleck would still return to the role for some additional scenes in Zack Snyder's cut of Justice League and also have a cameo in The Flash confirmed. In parallel with DCEU's Batman undefinition, Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson were working on their new, completely stand-alone version of the character.
With the DCEU now open to the multiverse and Michael Keaton's Batman taking an active role in the franchise, it could be difficult for casual audiences to tell the different versions apart or even not want to compare one to the other. The fact that Robert Pattinson's Batman will not get to interact with the other DCEU heroes as Michael Keaton's will could also weigh against The Batman. In that sense, a Batverse could be just what this standalone Batman series needs to truly set itself apart from others.
Even without being part of the DCEU, Batman has a big enough mythos to sustain its own universe of characters, crossovers, and spin-offs. At a time when films completely isolated from a larger franchise often struggle at the box office, making The Batman the beginning of a shared universe centered around the world of Gotham is a viable alternative.
Although Batman has had several solo films plus appearances in the DCEU, the character’s cinematic history has always suffered from recasts and reboots. The actor who had the most screen time as the hero was Christian Bale, and even still his Batman had a very linear journey in the form of a three-act story. Therefore, there has never been a Batman universe whose history of Gotham City "never ends" as Matt Reeves would like to see.
The Burton and Schumacher series felt very episodic and only lasted for two films each. Although some people like to consider all of the four Batman movies from before the 2000s a part of the same continuity, the successive Bruce Wayne’s recast plus the drastic shift in tone makes it difficult for those films to feel like just one big story. In addition to that, all villains and most supporting characters from Burton's Batman to Batman & Robin were all restricted to one-off roles. This all limited the feasibility of an all-encompassing universe.
Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, which is by far the most successful and well-received iteration of the character so far, also did not see the start of a Batverse. Christopher Nolan’s take on Batman had a very distinct sense of finite time for the heroes’ journey, and each film was designed as if it could be the last one. Even having spanned for seven years, Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy never welcomed any spin-offs or connections to a larger universe whatsoever. Ben Affleck’s run as Batman, which appeared to be more receptive to expanding into a larger universe, was short-lived due to the receptions of Batman v Superman and Justice League and the actor’s personal matters. Therefore, as a result of both narrative decisions and on-set issues, the burgeoning Batverse has never been able to successfully take flight.
Even before its release, The Batman is already seeing a Batverse being created around it in the form of two spin-off series on HBO Max. In July 2020, just a few months after principal photography for The Batman had started, HBO Max announced a Gotham PD show focused on the Gotham Police Department that would serve as a prequel to the events of The Batman. Boardwalk Empire's Terrence Winter was initially going to serve as showrunner, but creative differences led to his departure from the project. With no premiere date attached as of yet, Gotham PD will now have Joe Barton as the showrunner.
A spin-off series for The Batman's Penguin is also currently in development for HBO Max. Colin Farrell will reprise his role as Oswald Cobblepot in a show also co-produced by Matt Reeves and written by Lauren LeFranc. While it remains to be seen whether the story will be a prequel or a sequel to The Batman, a Penguin series would have the opportunity to further explore Cobblepot's journey from a simple Falcone lackey to one of Gotham's most famous crime bosses. Whatever direction the show decides to go, it's clear that The Batman could provide the launchpad for myriad stories centered around some of the character's most notorious allies and adversaries.
With two shows already being produced for a streaming platform, The Batman’s universe has already done something that no other Batman franchise has: a crossover between different media. Another way The Batman's Batverse could innovate is by keeping most of the franchise's villains such as The Riddler and Catwoman alive to fight another day — something most Batman movies to date have chosen not to do. Should The Batman's saga timeline spans several years, it would be an opportunity for audiences to see the entire gallery of Batman villains existing at the same time and in the same universe.
In addition to all those elements that could elevate The Batman's universe, a long-running Batman franchise could accommodate the Bat-family, a concept very important to the character's legacy in the comics but also never explored in the movies. The closest thing to a live-action version of the Bat-family was the quick team-up between Robin and Batgirl in the latter half of Batman & Robin. Robert Pattinson has shown interest in having Robin in his films, something that could mean the beginning of a proper Bat-family and cement the start of The Batman’s Batverse.