*** THE BATMAN UNIVERSE ***

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TCTTS
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Seeing as Matt Reeves is quickly expanding The Batman into its own cinematic bat-verse, across both film and TV, I figured it best to have a single thread as a catch-all going forward, instead of news getting lost in the old Batman or DC threads.

As for the projects themselves, Reeves (writer/director of The Batman) is highly involved with/producing each one, overseeing the entire universe, hiring many of the writers/showrunners/directors himself, is the creative vision, etc. Here's the current slate...


THE PENGUIN

- A TV series that begins filming early 2023 for a late 2023 release on HBO Max.

- "Expands upon the world filmmaker Matt Reeves created for Warner Bros Pictures' global blockbuster The Batman and centers on the character played by Colin Farrell in the film." - Warner Bros. Press Release

- Will take place in the immediate aftermath of The Batman, in the wake of the death of Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and will revolve around the Penguin's rise to power in Gotham's criminal underworld.

- Cristin Milioti will play Sofia Falcone, daughter of Carmine Falcone (and half-sister to Selina Kyle/Catwoman), squaring off against the Penguin for control of Gotham.


ARKHAM ASYLUM

- A second HBO Max series that only recently hired a showrunner, so I wouldn't expect this one to be filming until late 2023/early 2024, for a 2024 release.

- "The Arkham Asylum show does not have an official logline at this time, but Reeves previously described it as 'like a horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham.'" - Variety


THE BATMAN SEQUEL

- Reeves and co-writer Mattson Tomlin are currently writing the sequel.

- Filming likely won't begin until early 2024. And seeing as Warner Bros. is releasing Joker: Folie a Deux (The Joker sequel) on October 4, 2024, and would never release two Batman-related theatrical features in the second half of 2024, we're almost assuredly not going to see The Batman sequel until 2025. My guess would be summer 2025, spring at the earliest, and that it will chronologically follow both the The Penguin and Arkham Asylum series.

- No details are known about the plot.


ADDITIONAL PROJECTS

"[Reeves] is meeting with writers and directors to build out movies - yes movies, not just series - focused on Batman rogue's gallery, both established and more obscure, with characters ranging from the Scarecrow to Clayface to Professor Pyg. All those projects are in the very early stages of gestation. - The Hollywood Reporter
TCTTS
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So, yeah... this whole thing sounds incredibly ambitious, and I could not be more excited, considering The Batman is one of my favorite blockbusters of the century. Starting earlier this year, it basically sounds like we're due at least one Reeves bat-verse project per year - be it a film or HBO Max series - for the foreseeable future. Which is fine by me. I love this world Reeves has created, and cannot wait to return to it year after year.
Madmarttigan
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Why are they green lighting all this Batverse material but then doing a joker sequel that is a completely different universe and has nothing to do with it?
toucan82
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Probably because they think they can make money this way
jackie childs
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TCTTS said:

So, yeah... this whole thing sounds incredibly ambitious, and I could not be more excited, considering The Batman is one of my favorite blockbusters of the century. Starting earlier this year, it basically sounds like we're due at least one Reeves bat-verse project per year - be it a film or HBO Max series - for the foreseeable future. Which is fine by me. I love this world Reeves has created, and cannot wait to return to it year after year.
my initial reaction was "oh no", given the issues with the disney+ marvel series. but as long as both Reeves and HBO are involved, we should get a high-quality product
Quad Dog
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How much does DC naming a new lead wiht Gunn and Safran change this? How much was announced under the old regime, and how much will the new continue?

Either way I wish studios had the courage, money, and foresight to start multiple movies and side projects at once. New Line had the guts to finance and shoot all three Lord of the Rings at once so that they were released in subsequent years. Instead we get three years between The Batman sequels.
TCTTS
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Gunn and Safran likely won't be touching any of this stuff. Reeves basically has carte blanche, they're going to let him cook, and keep this world separate. Same goes for The Joker sequel, as Todd Phillips isn't even reporting to Gunn/Safran, he's reporting to a different, non-DC WB exec. Gunn/Safran will of course be keeping track of all of everything, and will know exactly what's going on, but it's sounding more and more like anything that isn't part of the core, connected DCU, might not be 100% under their purview. Reeves, Phillips, and probably Abrams will likely be left alone somewhat.
TCTTS
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As for starting multiple projects at once, it's a double edged sword, and mainly more of a manpower thing. Reeves can only write/direct one movie at a time. And the last studio to try doing multiple movies at once, look how that turned out with the Star Wars sequels. I would much rather wait three years between movies, with the same filmmaker writing/directing/overseeing the entire thing, as opposed to the movies coming out every other year, and the situation that allowed Abrams to be making one movie while Johnson simultaneously made a completely different feeling sequel. That, and the LOTR strategy of making them back-to-back-to-back, is less tenable as well, as it's becoming more of a challenge to get talent to commit to that much time without a break, without being able to do other projects in between, etc.
Lathspell
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Madmarttigan said:

Why are they green lighting all this Batverse material but then doing a joker sequel that is a completely different universe and has nothing to do with it?
AgfromHOU
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Colin Farrell teased that the opening scene of the Penguin show picks up the morning after the city flood, with him walking through Falcone's flooded office
TCTTS
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Filming begins next month, will wrap in the summer…

dave94
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I loved the Batman, but is anyone really wanting a Penguin spinoff? I never thought watching the movie that I wanted more of him.
Aggie_Journalist
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So if Gunn isn't touching any of this, does that mean Gunn's DC-verse won't have a Batman? Or will we have two iterations of Batman the next ten years - one in Gunn's world and one in this bat-verse?
Thanks and gig'em
TCTTS
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dave94 said:

I loved the Batman, but is anyone really wanting a Penguin spinoff? I never thought watching the movie that I wanted more of him.

Personally, I can't wait. Matt Reeves' Gotham is my favorite iteration yet, the vibe is incredibly dark/cool, and getting to dive back/deeper into that underworld should be a lot of fun. It's not just about Penguin either. Cristin Milioti is playing Sofia Falcone, daughter of Carmine Falcone (also half-sister to Selina Kyle/Catwoman), and it's partly about her facing off against the Penguin for control of Gotham. So it's basically a sprawling mobster/gangster/crime show, set in the immediate aftermath of the first movie (with Gotham still flooded), that I assume will help set the stage for the next movie.
TCTTS
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Aggie_Journalist said:

So if Gunn isn't touching any of this, does that mean Gunn's DC-verse won't have a Batman? Or will we have two iterations of Batman the next ten years - one in Gunn's world and one in this bat-verse?

No one knows for sure yet, but I would be shocked if Gunn's DC-verse doesn't have a Batman. I've said this before, but I'm guessing they'll go out of their way to distinguish the two iterations, and perhaps make Gunn's version older and more grizzled or something along those lines.
AustinAg2K
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I'm so glad they're doing this. Batman is the only DC property I have any interest in. I'd love to see him break away from the DCU and stand on his own. Personally, I think Batman is the only comic property that can maintain a whole universe by itself. The Rogue Gallery is head and shoulders above anyone else, with many who can maintain their own series/movie without even having Batman. You could also do some pretty cool stuff with Robin/Red Hood and Batgirl. There is so much potential here, but if course, it's DC, so it seems likely they'll screw it up.
AustinAg2K
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dave94 said:

I loved the Batman, but is anyone really wanting a Penguin spinoff? I never thought watching the movie that I wanted more of him.


Yes. I've always felt like Penguin has been under utilized in the Batman films/shows. Up until the most recent movie, he has always been more of comic relief. He's really the crime boss that runs the Gotham underground. There is potential for a great mob/crime series here.
AgfromHOU
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AustinAg2K said:

I'm so glad they're doing this. Batman is the only DC property I have any interest in. I'd love to see him break away from the DCU and stand on his own. Personally, I think Batman is the only comic property that can maintain a whole universe by itself. The Rogue Gallery is head and shoulders above anyone else, with many who can maintain their own series/movie without even having Batman. You could also do some pretty cool stuff with Robin/Red Hood and Batgirl. There is so much potential here, but if course, it's DC, so it seems likely they'll screw it up.


I agree about Batman being able to maintain his own universe. I've always wanted a Bat family universe with MCU level connectivity.

Also, The Batman's universe really isn't the DC that made the DCEU. Matt Reeves has full control, so DC can't screw it up.
Claude!
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That's a lot of balls for Reeves to have in the air, even if he's not in the immediate day to day on all of them. Hope it works out, but I'm skeptical that it will.
TCTTS
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TCTTS
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TCTTS
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TCTTS
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Was hoping for summer 2025, but at least we finally have a date...

FL_Ag1998
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TCTTS said:

Was hoping for summer 2025, but at least we finally have a date...




Finally some hollywood news this week important enough to divert my attention away from The Last of Us thread. That thread has become the proverbial car wreck that I can't look away from.

And no BES, Avatar making another $12 this week is not news anymore.
Brian Earl Spilner
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Ok? Kind of random comment there.
Lathspell
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Jesus... that's so far away.

Looking at the academy award nominations... am I going to have to start putting The Batman in my "Favorite Underrated Movies" category? Each time I rewatch a scene, I catch little things I didn't see before. I still hold that the first hour and a half or so is absolutely perfect filmmaking. The cinematography, the worldbuilding, the acting, the script, the score...

They nominated The Batman for Make-up, Sound, and Visual Effects. It's almost like they didn't even watch this movie. DId they just think, "Superhero movie that people liked... nominate it for the standard awards."? How is it nominated for Best Visual Effects?

I really am surprised it didn't get nominated for Original Score, Production design, Directing, or Cinematography. Even Best Picture, seeing they nominated Avatar 2. Did Matt Reeves piss someone off? Did someone in the cast say something Hollywood didn't like?
Cinco Ranch Aggie
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Generally, the snooty Academy Awards are reserved for more serious stuff. Seriously, though, they did also nominate Top Gun Maverick in addition to Avatar the Way of Water, neither of which will win because they aren't serious enough.

Yes, you can read that as one who has nearly 100% of the time disagreed with the winning choices (Annie Hall over Star Wars, Chariots of Fire over Raiders of the Lost Ark, Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan, I could probably go on here). Maybe I'm but a simpleton, but gee, I see movies for entertainment, not necessarily anything else (social commentary in a hugely entertaining movie like, say, The Dark Knight, is a good thing, but when it is all about the social commentary, that's likely a pass for me).
FL_Ag1998
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Brian Earl Spilner said:

Ok? Kind of random comment there.


Just poking fun, no ill will meant. I know you love Avatar and this board has been full of Avatar "updates" from you in an otherwise slow period. That's all.
TCTTS
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DallasTeleAg said:

Jesus... that's so far away.

Looking at the academy award nominations... am I going to have to start putting The Batman in my "Favorite Underrated Movies" category? Each time I rewatch a scene, I catch little things I didn't see before. I still hold that the first hour and a half or so is absolutely perfect filmmaking. The cinematography, the worldbuilding, the acting, the script, the score...

They nominated The Batman for Make-up, Sound, and Visual Effects. It's almost like they didn't even watch this movie. DId they just think, "Superhero movie that people liked... nominate it for the standard awards."? How is it nominated for Best Visual Effects?

I really am surprised it didn't get nominated for Original Score, Production design, Directing, or Cinematography. Even Best Picture, seeing they nominated Avatar 2. Did Matt Reeves piss someone off? Did someone in the cast say something Hollywood didn't like?

Best Visual Effects, I get, due in part to the unique way they used "the volume" (the same tech used on The Mandalorian). This was the first "real world"-set movie to use it for city scapes and what not, and they employed it brilliantly, as the movie obviously looked absolutely incredible in that regard. That, and sometimes the best effects are those you hardly register, and that's what a lot of this movie is comprised of. So much of Gotham is entirely virtual. Yes, they used a number of real locations as its foundation, but the rest of the city is almost up there with Pandora in terms what they created out of nothing.

As for the nominations it missed, I absolutely agree that it should have been nominated for every one you mentioned, and it's a travesty (relatively speaking) that it wasn't. That said, more than anything, I think the release date was the culprit. It was the first big movie of the year, all the way back in early March, long before even Everything Everywhere All At Once and Top Gun: Maverick. Had it come out in October the year prior, as was originally planned - in the heart of awards season - I think it would have been a completely different story.
Brian Earl Spilner
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FL_Ag1998 said:

Brian Earl Spilner said:

Ok? Kind of random comment there.


Just poking fun, no ill will meant. I know you love Avatar and this board has been full of Avatar "updates" from you in an otherwise slow period. That's all.


In my defense I've limited my Avatar posts to the BO thread.

And if it helps, there's only a couple more milestones it can hit at this point.
Lathspell
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Sat down to relax and play a game. As usual, I wanted to put on some background music and went back to The Batman original soundtrack.

It just pissed me off all over again that this was not even nominated for Best Original Score. The Batman, Catwoman, and The Riddler's motifs are all so fantastic.

This has got to be one of the more egregious snubs I've at least noticed with Oscar nominations. I can literally listen to Sonata in Darkness over and over, though it's more of a piano amalgamation of the various music in the score:

TCTTS
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Sex Panther
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Man, it's such a beating listening to Shohreh Aghdashloo's voice. Which is a bummer because she's a good actress.
TCTTS
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I didn't know who she was based solely on the picture/name, but I just looked her up and yeah, I remember that voice now. I guess it could potentially work for some tough, seedy, underground character, or a corrupt official or something, but man, it's so incredibly gruff. I seriously doubt any of those three actors are in the series a ton, at least.
Sex Panther
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She's a major character in The Expanse and I almost feel bad saying this but her scenes became nearly unwatchable for me. But yeah these all seem like minor roles so no big deal.
 
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