Batman Getting Standalone Cinematic Universe Confirmed By Director
Right now, James Gunn is hard at work creating the DCU, a second attempt at a cinematic universe for Warner Bros. Discovery after the DCEU imploded. Certain upcoming superhero films remain firmly outside that universe, including the long-awaited sequel to The Batman. Now, fans of that hit film have even more to look forward to: director Matt Reeves has plans to create his own Batman universe of interconnected films and TV shows.
The Batman Epic Crime Saga
Interestingly enough, the seeds for this idea led to the The Penguin spinoff show, which is now wowing critics and fans alike on HBO. The studio was very interested in expanding Matt Reeves’ Batman universe into television, and they deferred to the acclaimed director about where he would like to take these characters.
Reeves replied that he wanted to use TV shows to “really dig into” characters that make minor appearances in his films, and that’s when it came to him: he wanted to create a separate cinematic universe that he has dubbed The Batman Epic Crime Saga.
In The Works For A Very Long Time
Matt Reeves’ idea for this interconnected Batman universe is one that has been kicking around his head for a very long time, though its exact shape has considerably shifted. Even before Discovery purchased Warner Bros., he considered creating a TV series focusing on the Gotham City Police Department. This would very likely have starred Commissioner Gordon actor Jeffrey Wright and would be a much more serious take on a television premise first explored by the far-campier show Gotham.
The Penguin Is Just The First
Another early idea that Matt Reeves had for his Batman universe was a show centered on the infamous Arkham Asylum. The Discovery acquisition infamously killed some other DC projects (including, most infamously, scrapping a nearly-completed Batgirl film), but Reeves still had the relative freedom to create whatever TV show he wanted in the universe of the Caped Crusader.
When he realized the HBO CEO Casey Bloys was fine with him focusing on bigger “marquee characters,” he decided to make his first TV project one that focused entirely on Colin Farrell’s Penguin character.
Fortunately for Matt Reeves, Bloys loved this Batman universe beginning with the story of how Penguin capitalizes on the chaos at the end of The Batman and rises to the top of Gotham City’s criminal underworld. Reeves says elements from his Gotham City show were reworked for The Penguin and that elements from the similarly scrapped Arkham Universe show may be used to create “more evolved” versions of those ideas. He’s not yet ready to disclose what future shows might focus on (and that focus may depend on reception to The Penguin), but each show will explore Gotham as “the dark side of the American Dream.”
Pick Up Watching Wherever You Want
With all that being said, Matt Reeves is adamant about one thing…he doesn’t ever want his interconnected Batman universe to feel like “homework” to fans. He is quick to emphasize that “you don’t have to watch The Batman to understand The Penguin and you don’t have to watch The Penguin to understand the events of The Batman Part II.”
However, doing so will be very rewarding: “If you do watch the whole thing, it is an epic narrative and a meditation on the corruption and why Gotham is the way it is.”
Plenty To Be Excited About
While Matt Reeves doesn’t seem to think his own Batman universe is in competition with James Gunn’s DCU, we can’t help but be much more excited about future returns to Gotham City. The DCU is still an unknown quantity, but thanks to The Batman, we know Reeves is capable of knocking out a great story even quicker than Adam Wests’s Dark Knight knocked out sharks with his Shark Repellent Bat-Spray.
The Batman Epic Crime Saga may have a goofy name, but it may ultimately be the best thing to happen to fans of the Caped Crusader since Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
