James Gunn announces movie about Batman & Robin connected to the DC Universe

A new Batman & Robin movie is announced as part of the DC Universe, leaving Matt Reeves’ The Batman aside.

We currently know a The Batman, with Robert Pattinson being the most recent to don the cape and cowl in 2022’s The Batman. Also, this year both Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton will return as Batman in The Flash movie. However, as DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran look to launch their DC Universe, a new Batman is poised to join the film franchise.

During Gunn and Safran’s presentation revealing their DC Universe plans, they announced a Batman movie titled The Brave and the Bold. It will feature Bruce Wayne and his son Damien Wayne, who was raised to be a killer. The story will be a father and son story after Bruce learns of Damien’s existence and takes him under his wing. Gunn and Safran confirmed that neither Pattinson nor Affleck will play this DCU version of Batman, but did say that other members of the Batfamily will appear in the film, though they didn’t specify which ones.

Gunn and Safran revealed that The Brave and the Bold is based on Grant Morrison’s Batman comic, which includes the story of Bruce meeting his son Damian. However, The Brave and the Bold, which doesn’t yet have a director attached, is unlikely to adapt the comic exactly. Changes are usually made in the adaptation process, and the new Batman & Robin movie will no doubt make some adjustments to Morrison’s story.

In terms of who will star in The Brave and the Bold, that remains to be seen. Since Pattinson’s Batman franchise is separate from the DCU and Affleck isn’t expected to return for the movie, Gunn and Safran will have to cast a new Bruce Wayne. Since this Bruce is going to be a father, he will have to be older than Pattinson’s Batman, which means that DC Studios could be looking for an actor closer in age to Affleck, if not a bit younger. It’s also unclear how young they’ll be looking to cast Damian Wayne, though he’s usually depicted in the comics as 13 or 14.