Is Matt Reeves’ Batman universe in trouble? All signs point to ‘yes’

A couple of weeks ago, Matt Reeves’ The Batman 2 was listed as ‘Untitled Batman Movie’ on Warner Bros’ official Spanish website, which raised a few eyebrows but it’s starting to look like maybe, just maybe, the sequel is in some sort of trouble.

Ok, so bear with me here…

When Reeves’ The Batman arrived in 2022, it was far from perfect but it was beautiful, complex and an interesting take on the Gotham Guardian and a sequel was quickly announced but, alas, it’s years later and we’re still no closer.

Now, that’s not to say the ‘Reeves-verse’ hasn’t moved on, it has. A few months after the movie came out, we had the superb Riddler: Year One comic telling the story of how this universe’s Riddler came to be and, written by actor Paul Dano, it was an intense and fun read, fleshing out Riddler, Gotham and even Batman.

There are no plans for more comic book stories set in this world, sadly.

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Next up, last year we got the superb – best entry in the universe yet, in fact – Penguin starring Colin Farrell, returning as the titular arch-nemesis and debuting the first appearance of Sofia Falcone, played so wonderfully by Cristin Milioti, who may just have been the brightest star of last year.

But still… no The Batman Part II.

But we’ve had several false starts of the script reportedly being done and then not being done. We had rumours that James Gunn’s DCU had absorbed it into the newly-developed DCU and we even had rumours that Gunn had pulled the plug and the universe, despite being so promising and fun, was dead.

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None of that is true though.

Back in January, at the Golden Globes, Reeves confirmed the movie was set to film later this year and it was full-speed ahead:  “I think the story is a continuation, in a certain way, and completely different in another. It’s going to show different sides of Rob [Pattinson, Batman/Bruce Wayne]. I think it’s going to be really exciting, I think it’s going to be really cool.”

But now, almost three months later, it seems that the script is still not done, just this weekend, Warner Bros co-chairman/CEO Pam Abdy confirmed Reeves is still working on the script: “We have a bit of other collaboration with Matt Reeves, but Peter [Safran] and James [Gunn] know he is a writer-directing auteur in his own right, and that it will come when he’s written his best Batman script and is ready.”

That’s fair enough but the movie is still pencilled to film this year with an October 1st, 2027 release date in the diary.

And recently, Peter Safran, James Gunn’s partner in developing the DCU, said that Reeves’ movies are a planned trilogy.

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Add to this the news that Robert Pattinson is apparently being sought by Denis Villeneuve for a role in Dune 3 which is expected to begin filming this summer. Villeneuve is finishing his script at the minute as he prepares to film what he swears will be his last entry in the Frank Herbert universe.

But if Pattinson, currently filming on Chris Nolan’s Odyssey movie, signs on, will that leave him available to film The Batman sequel? After all, in January, James Gunn said that the highly anticipated sequel was looking to film this year: “This next year is very much about getting into production and getting the movie going and we’re really excited about it”.

Ok, so we still have season 2 of The Penguin to look forward to though, right? I mean, everyone – everyone! – loved the first season and it’s been laden with awards and accolades, so it must be a sure thing, right?

Well…

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Warner Bros Pictures co-chairman/CEOs Mike De Luca has confirmed that no, as of now, there’s no plans for season 2: “The Penguin is one of those things where — and it’s interesting, because when you talk with everyone involved, everyone is interested in possibly revisiting those characters and doing more — it was very much designed as a limited series. But I would never say never. I think if we can get the creative stars to line up in the right way, and the talent is available — because we certainly wouldn’t want to do this without Colin [Farrell] and Cristin [Milioti] and that team — I would say it’s definitely a possibility, but there’s nothing in the works at the moment.”

This is despite Reeves himself confirming in January that they were developing a second season, saying: “Our plan and our hope is to absolutely do another season, we just have to come up with the idea that we think is the right idea, which is what we’re working on.”

On top of this, as the SAG Awards recently, Farrell said that he’s not dying to do a second season: “I don’t want it. I don’t not want it,” he said.

“We all left it in the ring in those eight hours. I would hate to, just because of a quote-unquote success, have to go again and for it to be a diluted version of what people seem to feel it is, majoritively. So I’m in no rush. I have no deep desire to do it. Sure, if they think of something that works in conjunction as a parallel to Matt Reeves’ cinematic universe and it’s a good idea, I’m open to it. But it’s not something concerning me.”

Remember too that Farrell is reportedly in the running to join Gunn’s DCU as Sgt Rock, meaning he could be busy in a different corner of the DC Universe in the near future.

And finally, one last complication working against the future of this take on Gotham City could be Reeves himself who, rumour has it, may be facing issues making his workload difficult right now.

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Hollywood scooper Jeff Sneider reports that there are whispers that Reeves may have to move on from The Batman sequel/universe as either Reeves or someone close to him has been suffering health problems. Sneider reports that Reeves will leave the project in someone elses’s hands if he cannot get filming started this year.

“I think that situation is still unresolved and that’s why things are still unresolved as far as The Batman… I think even though that situation may be unresolved, I would say that if a decision isn’t made by the end of the year – if the movie doesn’t get up and running by the end of the year – I do think [Reeves] will exit. I think it will be a, ‘Hey, we’ve got to move on here.’ It will be very sad. At this point, people are understanding of the circumstances, but there’s some frustration and it’s gonna be, ‘We need to go on this, with or without you soon.'”

It goes without saying that I and everyone here at FTN HQ wish Reeves and/or whoever in his circle may be ill all the best – no movie is worth the health or life of a single person, of that, there is no question.

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But, if all this is true, how likely is it that someone else will pick up the reigns? If Gunn and Safran are developing the DCU, including a new Batman for that world, would they want the responsibility of overseeing this world too? Or is it more likely that they would, as was feared earlier, either move away from this world without Reeves or absorb it into the DCU, making Pattinson their Batman?

Whatever happens, it seems it’s gotten messy and as such, the future of Reeves’ Gotham might well be in trouble.

What say you all? Let me know your thoughts, guys…

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Sources: Hot Mic Podcast, Deadline, Variety, CBC, Deadline