After what has quite frankly been a rocky start to their tenure as DC Studios co-heads informed by cancellations, unexpected recasts, and retcons, James Gunn and Peter Safran have unveiled their plans for the DC Universe, which includes locking in The Batman 2 release date. At the time of this writing, it’s scheduled to hit theatres on October 3rd of 2025.
The long-awaited sequel to Matt Reeves’ deliciously neo-noir reboot – officially titled The Batman Part II – will hail the return of Robert Pattinson as arguably the grittiest iteration of Bruce Wayne / The Caped Crusader yet. And in line with the original plan prior to Gunn and Safran being tapped to Kevin Feige the broader franchise, it’ll remain a standalone property outside of the DCU currently being architected.
“Matt Reeves is working on [The Batman Part II], which he thinks of as a Batman crime saga, which also includes The Penguin TV series,” explained James Gunn.
“And it is its own thing and he’s hard at work on that. He came in and pitched us some amazing, really cool stuff the other day. So our plan is for that to continue.”
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Peter Safran added: “Batman’s not a stepchild. I mean, it’s all under DC. We are fully invested in the success of the Batman, just like we are everything else.”
From this point forward, projects such as The Batman Part II and Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie A Deux will be referred to as the “DC Elseworlds.” But where does this leave the main DCU vis-a-vis Batman and Joker?
Parallel to the above, Gunn and Safran are apparently developing a DCU Batman based on Grant Morrison‘s run of the ongoing mythology, The Brave & The Bold, featuring Batman’s son with Talia al Ghul: Damian Wayne – the lethal protégé raised by the League of Assassins from birth who eventually takes on the mantle of Robin.
“So this is the introduction of the DCU’s Batman. It is not Robert Pattinson. It is not Ben Affleck. This is a story of Damian Wayne, who is Batman’s actual son, who we didn’t know existed for the first eight to 10 years of his life,” said James Gunn.
“He was raised as a little murderer and assassin. He’s a little son of a bitch. He’s my favourite Robin. It’s based on the Grant Morrison comic book run, which is one of my favourite Batman runs. And we are putting that all together right now.”
“This is obviously a feature film, and it’s going to feature other members of the extended Bat-Family. Just because we feel like they’ve been left out of the Batman stories in the theatre for far too long,” said Peter Safran.
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Additionally, fans have – at long last – received clarity on the matter of Superman. With Henry Cavill now out of the picture, Gunn and Safran mentioned the coming feature-length project, Superman: Legacy, will mark the “true beginning of the DCU.”
“We’re hoping that [James Gunn] will direct it,” noted Peter Safran.
“It’s not an origin story. It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. Superman represents truth, justice, and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old fashioned.”
“With our stories, we want to take it away from good guy vs bad guy,” continued Gunn.
“There are really good — almost saintly – people and Superman is among them. There are really terrible villains like Gorilla Grodd or the Joker. And then there’s everybody in between them, so there are all these shades of grey which allow us to tell complex stories.”
While casting is still TBA, the Superman: Legacy release date has been slated for July 11th of 2025.
And once again, Matt Reeves’ The Batman 2 release date is currently October 3rd of 2025.
