James Gunn Debunks Wild The Batman: Part III Rumor After Mysterious Tease
The Batman was one of the most successful movies of 2022, earning critical praise (85% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes) and $772.7 million at the worldwide box office, ushering in a new era for the Caped Crusader on the big screen. Warner Bros. wasted no time in confirming a sequel, but as many fans know, it’s unfortunately taken The Batman: Part II a long time to come together. After a prolonged pre-production process and numerous delays, The Batman 2 is finally rolling cameras ahead of its 2028 release date. As fans await updates on the sequel, they’re trying to figure out why it took so long for Part II to get off the ground. Some people theorized that director Matt Reeves was working on The Batman 2 and 3 simultaneously, but that isn’t the case.
On Threads, DC Studios co-head James Gunn took the time to answer some fan questions. One person asked Gunn to confirm or deny the rumor that Reeves is shooting The Batman: Part II and Part III back to back. “I can deny,” Gunn wrote in his response.
The Batman: Part III Rumors Explained
Suspicion that Reeves was filming two Batman films at once arose earlier today, when an image of the redesigned Batman: Part II logo around the roman numeral III circulated online. Even though Warner Bros. has not made any official comment about The Batman: Part III, some fans took the image as a sign that Reeves might have been shooting the last two installments of his planned trilogy back to back. On the surface, the theory made sense. When The Batman: Part II hits theaters, it will have been nearly six full years since the first film released, perceived as an unusually long amount of time between installments in a hit film franchise. Normally, studios like to strike when the iron is hot, debuting a follow-up in a few years at most. As a point of comparison, the entirety of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy was released in a seven-year period from 2005-2012 (and Nolan helmed The Prestige and Inception between entries).
The Batman problem hanging over the DC Universe’s head also seeming lent some credence to the back to back rumor. Reeves’ Batman Epic Crime Saga franchise is set in its own continuity, separate from the DCU that Superman and Supergirl inhabit. The conundrum this presents for Gunn is obvious; Batman, one of DC’s most important lynchpin characters, is tied up in another filmmaker’s universe. DC Studios is developing The Brave and the Bold, a Batman movie for the DCU, but Gunn has maintained that it will not release in the same calendar year as The Batman: Part II. That means The Brave and the Bold won’t arrive until 2029 at the earliest — and that’s if everything goes smoothly behind the scenes.
If Gunn doesn’t want The Batman: Part II and The Brave and the Bold to come out at the same time, logic would dictate he’d feel the same way about The Batman: Part III. Gunn believes there’s a way to make the “two Batmen” thing work in a way that doesn’t confuse general audiences, but it’d arguably be easier for everyone involved if DC Studios waits until Reeves is done with his trilogy before introducing the DCU’s Batman (as opposed to alternating between the two continuities). Wrapping up the Batman Epic Crime Saga as quickly as possible would clear the path for The Brave and the Bold, but it would appear The Batman: Part III is not imminent, which will only raise further questions about where things stand with the DCU’s take.
While it would have been exciting if Reeves was actually shooting his last two Batman movies back to back, it’s probably for the best this rumor/theory wasn’t true. The track record of franchises shooting multiple installments at once is mixed; The Lord of the Rings is the gold standard for this approach, but that was a generational filmmaking achievement that isn’t easily replicable. Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame shot back to back and were both massively successful, but the first two Pirates of the Caribbean sequels filmed back to back and struggled to recapture the magic of the original. By focusing on just The Batman: Part II, Reeves is putting all of his attention on a single film, ensuring it’s as strong as it can be. Working on two massive comic book adaptations at once would carry the risk of spreading the director too thin. Reeves undoubtedly has ideas for The Batman: Part III, but before he tackles that, it’s more important to make sure The Batman: Part II is a great standalone movie.
