UPDATE 8/26: TheWrap asks whether a DC retool would follow if Clayface and Man of Tomorrow underperform. Per our insiders, the Batman plan below is the retool, and it isn’t waiting on the box office.
The missing piece of the puzzle may finally be revealed, and it fits with our previous reports surrounding the new DC at Paramount.
You’ll recall how I have been reporting for the past year that once the Paramount-WBD deal is done, Gunn will be out and the SnyderVerse is back fully in play along with an adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, all backed by the Saudis.
Missing from those reports is the question of Matt Reeves’ Batman universe starring Robert Pattinson.
Well, now I may have the answer.
David Ellison is going all in on Batman.
Per our sources, the incoming owner’s plan to bring people back to DC runs straight through Matt Reeves, Robert Pattinson, and Gotham. Zack Snyder’s Batman projects will be separate and their own thing. They’ll both exist. Gunn’s goofy stuff won’t be happening.
This comes from two of our sources independently.
The second source laid out the plan in detail.
“Ellison is GOING ALL IN on Batman to bring people back to DC,” they told us.
Shown those messages separately, our original source, who told us the Lanterns info, responded: “They’re really high on Reeves.”
Expect a big push for Reeves’ projects as the merger closes, we’re told.
No Shared Universe. Every Director Gets Their Own.
First, the structure, because it answers the question every DC fan will ask.
“SnyderVerse and other DC IPs will be totally separate. No shared universe. Every director gets their own,” the source tells us.
Our original source confirmed it independently: “Exactly what I heard about project by project basis with focus on directors vision,” adding that De Luca and Abdy “are well loved by creatives in Hollywood and ensure they get the best treatment.”
That’s the exact model our July reporting laid out: DC goes project by project, individual characters, possible team-up events, with universe-building allowed to happen organically.
Because DC simply doesn’t have the pipeline or the producer infrastructure to support a Marvel-style universe of films.
So it’s not Reeves or Snyder. It’s both, on parallel tracks.
And the two-Batmen objection? Our insiders already answered it: “The new regime knows that Sony’s simultaneous Spider-Verse didn’t hurt the MCU Spidey.”
Snyder’s The Dark Knight Returns with Ben Affleck moves on its own track: standalone films done the way WB did Watchmen.
We are also told a SnyderVerse return is fully in play after, possibly with Christopher Nolan, whose DGA just came out in support of the merger. We’re told Nolan personally stepped in.
The same source also says to keep an eye on Gal Gadot: Wonder Woman 3 may move before Cavill’s DC return.
“Off The Roof”: The Batman Part II
Early internal reaction to The Batman Part II is “off the roof,” per our source, with Pattinson “in top form.”
The timing could not be better.
Pattinson is in the middle of the biggest year of his career, with awards chatter around The Odyssey, next month’s Primetime, and December’s Dune: Part Three, where the source calls Pattinson a strong early Oscar favorite.
The source goes further on Pattinson himself: Paramount/WB see him as the next Tom Cruise.
The sequel is shooting now and dated February 18, 2028 in IMAX, with Scarlett Johansson and Sebastian Stan joining, after Warner Bros. officially framed the latest move as more time for post-production.
We also just got a first look at the Batmobile in action. It’s full speed ahead, with the Glasgow night shoots showing the GCPD opening fire on the car.
There is also a rumor swirling around the delay itself, which we break down separately: rewrites said to add Robin(s), more Penguin, and more Joker. Emphasis on rumor.
A Trilogy, Then An Arkham Asylum Trilogy
Ellison wants Reeves to finish a trilogy and a spinoff, per our source.
The spinoff: an Arkham Asylum series trilogy with Batman and Catwoman cameos, which was Reeves’ original plan before DC Studios stepped in.
A third Batman film to conclude the trilogy is already publicly planned, so the ambition here is scale, not existence.
“Contracts have to be signed but Paramount is spending big $$$ to build the universe for years to come,” the source says, with Pattinson and Reeves “getting production deals that rival Marvel stars.”
Worth remembering this source’s track record on this exact corner of DC: they called the Arkham Asylum series revival at HBO a month ago and dropped us the info about directors circling DC and WB.
The Batman Slate
Asked what the Batman slate looks like, the source ran it down: an Absolute Batman animated series, the Batman movie, an Arkham movie, The Dark Knight Returns, and a new Arkham Asylum game sequel.
On the game: “Arkham Asylum game is a huge property. Expect news. No brainer.”
And on where the Snyder and Jay Oliva project sitting ready for IMAX fits, the source was careful to label their answer a read rather than a report: they haven’t heard a date, but call 2028 the perfect slot, ahead of what they expect to be the next Batman sequel in 2029.
The Batman Part II currently sits on February 18, 2028.
It All Waits On The Close
All of it waits on the same thing everything at Warner Bros. waits on. The deal stays unclosed until a verdict, as late as June 2027, unless a settlement lands first.
So does the other Batman. Filmmaker Dan Marcus says Andy Muschietti told him all work on Gunn’s The Brave and the Bold is on hold until after the merger is settled.
“IT’S ON!” the source says. The moment someone can sign.
