The Brave and the Bold movie and my pitch on how to introduce Batman to the DCU

You can’t have the DC universe without Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman (the DC trinity). Warner Bros. discovered this in the final days of the DCEU and James Gunn fortunately appears to understand it well. He’s just released his first Superman film and another is scheduled for 2027. Gunn recently announced a Wonder Woman reboot as well which, I’d guess, is probably aiming for a 2028 release. That’s two of the three.

Batman, however, is more difficult. The Matt Reeves Batman trilogy, predating Gunn, is ongoing and taking some time. The Batman Part 2 is also scheduled for 2027, which is a noticeable delay on the prior 2022 film. Its production was delayed, in part, by the strikes, but even without that, Matt Reeves is not a fast film maker; he takes his time on the scripts. That is a good thing (as were the strikes), I’d rather wait for something great than get something rushed. But it does create issues for the DCU. Reeves’ trilogy isn’t part of the DCU continuity and probably can’t be integrated. It’s grounded approach to the Batman mythos, though great, is at odds with the metahuman comic book hijinks of the DCU.

The DCU will need to introduce its own less grounded version of Batman, and there in lay the issue. Having two cinematic versions of Batman at the same time, with their own films and branding, is likely to be confusing and convoluted. They risk stepping on each other’s toes.

I do have a pitch for how they could introduce Batman to the DCU in a way that, I think, will be narratively engaging whilst avoiding any clashes with the Reeves trilogy. But I’ll get to that further down. First, I want to briefly address the previously announced plans for a Brave and the Bold movie, because I suspect they may be having some trouble with it.

Brave and the Bold

Some time ago, Gunn announced a Brave and the Bold movie, based on Grant Morrison’s Batman comic run, that would focus on the relationship between Batman and the Robin number 4, his son Damian Wayne. The film is set to be directed by Andy Muschietti. So far, however, that’s all we really know, and I have a suspicion that the film is not proceeding well. Its development was reportedly postponed in December 2024 to make room for the a Batman Part 2 and, though they hired a writer in February 2025, there hasn’t been much info since then.

The film’s intended Bat family focus is presumably intended to distinguish it from the Reeves trilogy, but whilst the comic book Bat family is a lot of fun, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were struggling with the film’s story. The Bat family requires a lot of set up, and I think a Bruce and Damian film in particular, would be extremely difficult to get right. I have a couple of reasons for this.

Damian doesn’t work as a sidekick, at least not for Bruce. The character was designed to be fairly unlikable and, in contrast to the other Robins, is dark, brooding and violently serious. He’s not a bad character, to be sure, but he subsequently doesn’t pair well with Batman (also dark, brooding and violently serious). It makes for a generally undynamic duo. This, I suspect, is why comic book writers typically use Tim Drake (the light hearted Robin 3) for classic feeling Batman and Robin stories.

This was all intentional. During Morrison’s run, Bruce Wayne actually dies (he gets better) and the more upbeat Dick Grayson (Nightwing/Robin 1) takes over as the new Batman with Damian as his sidekick. It was a reversal of the standard dynamic: a light hearted Batman and a brooding Robin. Since then, Damian is often at his best when partnered with other light hearted characters. In fact he owes much of his popularity to the Super Sons comic, which sees him team up with the very upbeat Superboy (Superman’s son). His 2009 team ups with Stephanie Brown, Batgirl 3, are also a lot of fun.

On top of that, it’s strange to me that they’re de facto skipping to the end of Batman’s story. As noted, Damian becomes Robin in the context of Bruce Wayne’s death and, even if you rework that, a large part of Damian’s story is rooted in the fact that Bruce has been at this for a while. By the time Damian is introduced, Batman had been through a ton of character growth, which the idea of ‘found family’ was integral to. He built a family, with multiple adopted sons and daughters of whom Damian, at his debut, was immensely jealous. Damian straight up tries to kill Tim Drake. That their meeting happens so late is, I think, an important element of both their stories. It seems like a mistake then for the DCU to skip past the bulk of that development. Moreover, Superman is still in his early years, his son (Damian’s best friend) hasn’t been born yet, and the Justice League proper hasn’t even formed.

It’s not impossible to tell a great story about Bruce and Damian, it has been done. Still, they’re dynamic, at least to be my mind, doesn’t really jell. They’re both dark and brooding characters who work well solo but, in teams, are best paired with light hearted characters: the old good-cop, bad-cop routine. And again, there are ways to work around all this, but it’s difficult. Not to mention that a lot of great Batman stories take place before Damian’s debut and probably couldn’t happen afterwards (A Death in the Family, for instance).

It was recently announced that Gunn had cancelled a previously confirmed film, after the script failed to come together. There’s been a fair amount of speculation over which film it is. The Authority and Sgt Rock have both been suggested as candidates. Though I’m not convinced it’s them. Both projects are, from what I can gather, still in development. Plus, the Authority seems fairly essential to the story I suspect Gunn wants to tell (hence one of its members, the Engineer, was in Superman 2025). Given what I’ve said above, as such, I can’t help but wonder if the cancelled film is Brave and the Bold.

My Pitch

The DCU does still need a Batman, however, and needs to introduce him soon. But if the Brave and the Bold has been cancelled, they need another way of introducing him without clashing with the Reeves trilogy. That’s not undoable. They could introduce him Nick Fury style, with gradually escalating cameos. On the surface, that might sound kind of tedious. But, the more I think about it, the more I think that it could be kind of awesome; especially if it culminates with a Bat family film.

Batman has already had a brief cameo in the DCU. He’s seen during Creature Commandos as part of a flashback. They could follow this up with an appearance by Bruce Wayne in his civilian guise. Part of me is hoping that this will happen Peacemaker Season 2’s finale. The season is reportedly meant to serve as a prologue for the next Superman movie, but I’ve seen some speculation about possible cameos. It’s notable, to that end, that one of the new characters is Sasha Bordeaux, an ally and love interest of Batman in the comics. So the finale could, conceivably, feature Bruce (perhaps side-by-side with Maxwell Lord). Wayne Enterprises might even hire some former ARGUS agents, including the unemployed main characters. This could lead into the Amanda Waller series (more on that in second).

The next Superman movie could likewise see a Bruce Wayne/Batman cameo, setting up an eventual World’s Finest movie. The Teen Titans movie, moreover, could be set immediately after Dick Grayson (Robin 1) parts ways with Batman and becomes Nightwing. This would cover a major part of Batman’s story.

Then there’s the Clayface movie, releasing in 2026. This is the film that has me excited by the idea of gradually escalating Batman cameos. Clayface is a Batman villain so, if Clayface is the protagonist, they could place Batman in the films antagonist role. I really want them to do this. Batman actively tries to make himself seem terrifying and inhuman, and that’s how villains and heroes both are meant to see him. But that never comes across in films or TV shows, in part because they’re told from Batman’s perspective. A Batman film from the villain’s perspective, however, could fully embrace that idea. It could depict him as the nightmarish creature he tries to embody. As the DCU’s first feature length appearance of Batman, moreover, it would be an incredible introduction. It also avoids clashing with the Reeves trilogy, since this would be an R rated Clayface movie.

Clayface isn’t the only Batman villain movie either. There’s a Deathstroke and Bane movie in the works as well which, if set after Teen Titans, could be the ideal place to feature Batman and Jason Todd (Robin 2). Again, it can place them in the antagonist role. Meanwhile, I’m hoping the Amanda Waller TV show likewise features Batman as the antagonist, though the series could depict a little of his perspective. Perhaps he’s working to prevent Waller from reforming the Suicide Squad (hence why he’s hiring former ARGUS agents).

Batman has so many great villains, able to carry their own movie, that you could probably take this idea quite far. Moreover, I don’t want it to be a Sony situation; they keep making Spider-Man villain films without Spider-Man. Villain films that do feature Batman, alongside TV shows and perhaps a Worlds Finest Batman Superman team up, could be used to tell the bulk of Batman’s story whilst simultaneously building up Batman as a dark and terrifying presence. There could also be some Bat family spin off shows to further develop the Batman mythology, such as an animated Robin TV show.

This would be pretty cool in its own right, and would also buy time for Matt Reeves to finish his Batman trilogy. By the time Batman Part 3 has been released, probably around 2031 I would guess, Batman’s presence in the DCU will already be established. Then, with the trilogy over, they could finally make a dedicated Batman movie (perhaps even Brave and the Bold) in which we get to see the perspective of this terrifying presence that has been gradually built up. At that point, it would need to be a fairly big film; I would like it to be a multi-part adaption of No Man’s Land, but there are a ton of stories they could choose from.

That’s my pitch at least. Whatever Gunn decides to do, despite my above criticism of Damian, I’m sure it will be awesome.

-Dexter