The DCU will have its own Batman separated from Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe, which raises the question of whether The Brave and The Bold and the new DC Universe as a whole can affect The Batman - Part II’s box office. In addition to revealing part of the DCU’s Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters slate, James Gunn also confirmed that a The Batman sequel is happening. The Batman - Part II will see the returns of director Matt Reeves and star actor Robert Pattinson, yet it will remain as an Elseworlds film with no ties to Gunn’s DC Universe. Instead, the DCU will have a new Batman actor.

Though not much has been revealed about the DCU’s first Batman movie, The Brave and The Bold will be inspired by Grant Morrison’s All-Batman run. The Brave and The Bold will bring the first live-action Damian Wayne in what will also be the first theatrical Robin appearance since Chris O’Donnell in Batman & Robin. The fact that Damian Wayne will be the DCU’s Robin reveals that this new Batman will be more experienced and at a later point of his superhero career compared to Robert Pattinson’s, which by itself is already a major difference between the two versions. While having two different takes on Batman is exciting, it is an unprecedented situation.

Two Batman Movie Franchises At The Same Time Is A First


Two Batman movie franchises existing at the same time is a first in Batman’s decades-long cinematic history. It is important to notice that DC Studios’ James Gunn made sure to point out that The Batman 2 and The Brave and The Bold won’t release six-moth apart from each other. In other words, there will be a strategic release window to avoid having one movie cannibalizing the other. Still, given that The Batman - Part II could very well lead to a Part III, DC will have two Batman franchises going on at the same time, regardless of when the movies are released.


The Flash will feature two different Batman versions - Ben Affleck’s and Michael Keaton’s. That, however, does not really count as two Batman movie franchises happening concurrently as it is more of a crossover made possible by time travel and multiverse. It will be interesting to see, though, how audiences will receive two different Batmen in the same movie in what could be a thermometer for the future. Curiously, even the DC Animated Universe would often avoid having multiple versions of Batman and its related characters at the same time. For example, the DCAU’s Justice League show avoided villains from Nolan’s Dark Knight in what became known as the "bat-embargo."

The DCU’s The Brave And The Bold Will Be A More Fantastical Batman


The DCU’s The Brave and The Bold seems much closer to Affleck’s Batman than to Pattinson’s when it comes to how fantastical its universe will be. As part of a larger DC Universe, The Brave and The Bold’s Batman will exist in a world where aliens like Superman and the Green Lantern Corps, magic creatures like the Creature Commandos, and time-traveling superheroes like Booster Gold all exist too. That is significantly different from Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which grounded Batman and focused on the detective side of the character with no mentions of other superheroes or more fantastical Batman villains like Clayface and Poison Ivy.

James Gunn confirmed that The Brave and The Bold will feature other members of the “extended Bat-Family,” which makes sense considering that Damian Wayne as Robin means that other Batman sidekicks like Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood, and Red Robin probably already exist in this universe. Therefore, whereas The Batman - Part II can continue The Batman’s Bruce Wayne-focused approach, The Brave and The Bold can finally give the Bat-Family their time in the spotlight. The closest thing to a movie version of the Bat-Family was Batman & Robin, which had Batman, Robin, and Batgirl fighting side by side.

The Brave and The Bold can also dive into DC Universe crossovers, although nothing on that matter has been announced. Still, given that the new DC Universe will value interconnectivity and will have an overarching story whose first chapter is called “Gods and Monsters,” The Brave and The Bold will probably feature some DCU cameos. Be it with huge characters like Superman and the Green Lanterns or something like The Authority, the DCU’s Batman movie can be unlike all previous solo Batman films by incorporating other DC characters that are not always tied with Batman’s mythos. All of those differences would surely translate into the box office.

Shared Universe & Crossovers Are Box Office Titans (Even For Batman)


A shared universe in which crossovers are possible helps a franchise at the box office - and Batman’s movie history proves it. For example, while The Batman was far better received than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the former still made less than the latter. Likewise, while Batman as a character is a much bigger IP than Doctor Strange, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was still the highest-grossing superhero movie of 2022. What Batman v Superman and Doctor Strange 2 have in common is that they featured several superheroes and crossovers audiences had never seen and were full of setups for their respective universes.

This isn't necessarily a matter of which tone works better for each character, as an argument could be made that Batman does work great in solo stories, yet the MCU’s unparalleled success shows that interconnectivity helps. As great as The Batman was, a solo Batman adventure is something audiences have already seen on the big screen – from Batman (1989) to The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Obviously, Matt Reeves’ The Batman offered a unique take on the character, but it is still a relatively self-contained Batman story. Though The Batman’s universe will continue with a Penguin series, The Brave and The Bold will have a larger DC Universe to draw from.

How The DCU’s New Batman Can Affect The Batman - Part II’s Reception


Even if The Batman - Part II and The Brave and The Bold premiere a year or more apart from each other, there will be comparisons between the two films. In fact, as soon as a first look at The Brave and The Bold’s Batman and Robin is revealed or even some casting announcement is made, these two different takes on Batman’s mythos will be compared. Given its connections to a larger DC Universe, The Brave and The Bold can feel like a must-see movie event, similar to how Doctor Strange 2 was key for audiences to follow the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, for example. That is an advantage The Batman 2 won’t have.

Instead, The Batman’s sequel will have to rely on how well-received the first movie was. The Batman made $770 million at the box office, a great result for a reboot but still behind the previous three Batman-related films – Batman v Superman, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Dark Knight. If Superman: Legacy and other DCU projects are successful, then The Brave and The Bold will be able to market itself as the latest entry in this universe. The Batman - Part II won’t have to compete with the DCU’s Batman film, but it will have to sell itself as a must-see cinematic event without the help of a larger DC Universe.