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, itโs scheduled to hit theatres on October 3rd of 2025.
The long-awaited sequel to Matt Reevesโ deliciously neo-noir reboot โ officially titled The Batman Part II โ 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, itโll remain a standalone property outside of the DCU currently being architected.
โMatt Reeves is working on [The Batman Part II], which he thinks of as a Batman crime saga, which also includes The Penguin TV series,โ explained James Gunn.
โAnd it is its own thing and heโs 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.โ
RELATED: โThe Batmanโs Epic Hallway Fight Scene Was Realer Than You Think
Peter Safran added: โBatmanโs not a stepchild. I mean, itโs all under DC. We are fully invested in the success of the Batman, just like we are everything else.โ
From this point forward, projects such as The Batman Part II and Todd Phillipsโ Joker: Folie A Deux will be referred to as the โDC Elseworlds.โ 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 Morrisonโs run of the ongoing mythology, The Brave & The Bold, featuring Batmanโs son with Talia al Ghul: Damian Wayne โ the lethal protรฉgรฉ raised by the League of Assassins from birth who eventually takes on the mantle of Robin.
โSo this is the introduction of the DCUโs Batman. It is not Robert Pattinson. It is not Ben Affleck. This is a story of Damian Wayne, who is Batmanโs actual son, who we didnโt know existed for the first eight to 10 years of his life,โ said James Gunn.
โHe was raised as a little murderer and assassin. Heโs a little son of a bitch. Heโs my favourite Robin. Itโs 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.โ
โThis is obviously a feature film, and itโs going to feature other members of the extended Bat-Family. Just because we feel like theyโve been left out of the Batman stories in the theatre for far too long,โ said Peter Safran.
RELATED: The Alternate Ending For โJokerโ Almost Changed The Entire DC Universe
Additionally, fans have โ at long last โ 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 โtrue beginning of the DCU.โ
โWeโre hoping that [James Gunn] will direct it,โ noted Peter Safran.
โItโs 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.โ
โWith our stories, we want to take it away from good guy vs bad guy,โ continued Gunn.
โThere are really good โ almost saintly โ people and Superman is among them. There are really terrible villains like Gorilla Grodd or the Joker. And then thereโs everybody in between them, so there are all these shades of grey which allow us to tell complex stories.โ
While casting is still TBA, the Superman: Legacy release date has been slated for July 11th of 2025.
And once again, Matt Reevesโ The Batman 2 release date is currently October 3rd of 2025.
