AsDC Studiosprepares for its first entry into its own cinematic universe with James Gunn’sSupermanreleasing June 16, 2025, audiences have often debated whether or not Robert Pattinson’s Batman from Matt Reeves’sThe Batmanshould be retroactively added to the DCU as the franchise’s ultimate version ofBatman. Yet, there are quite a few reasons why the DCU and The Batman Epic Crime Saga should remain separate.
Matt Reeves’s busy and private schedule with his work onThe Batman: Part 2, set to film in the Summer of 2025, should remain a separate idea, allowed to breathe outside of the potential stories that could arrive in the DCU. While some might want David Corenswet’s Superman and Robert Pattinson’s Batman to be the World’s Finest, here are a few reasons not to merge the DCU withThe Batman.
6A Fresh Chance for a High-Tech Ninja Batman
A Batman More Aligned with Comics and Games Over Realism
Everyone loves Batman, and it seems everyone wants to play Batman. So far in live-action, there hasn’t exactly been a bad portrayal, and each Batman takes inspiration from different aspects of the 85-year-old character. As such, it’s time to embrace the full comic book nature of Batman, more specifically the type that features in the belovedBatman Arkhamgames for his plethora of gadgets, fighting styles, costumes, and villains.
IfThe Batmanwere to join the DCU, audiences would have a harder time believing that Robert Pattinson’s Batman is suddenly able to remove his emo persona to carry absurd sci-fi gadgets andfight assassins and other criminalsall night without some sense of realism kicking in. The DCU can easily flesh out a new Batman that can be the most accurate yet.
5It Puts a Time Limit on Bruce Wayne as Batman
Robert Pattinson’s Age and Projects Might See Him Retire
By the timeThe Batman: Part 2hits theaters, Robert Pattinson will be 41 years old, which is just 3 years younger than Ben Affleck whenBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justicecame out in 2016. Considering Ben Affleck was considereda gritty Batman over a decade into his crime-fighting career, it makes it a tad unbelievable that Pattinson is a Batman in his second year despite being near enough the same age, which adds further restrictions to his abilities.
Firstly, Robert Pattinson might not want to dedicate his career to a cinematic universe and instead would want to pursue other projects that interest him, likeMickey 17and the upcoming Christoper Nolan take onThe Odyssey. It feels rather unfair and silly to keep Pattinson’s schedule open for potential spin-offs and sequels for a Batman that deserves plenty of interactions with the Justice League, Superman, and Bat Family members when it’s clear that those things aren’t what attracted him to play the character in the first place.
4The Bat-Family Needs Its Own Space
Pattinson’s Batman is Just Beginning, Whereas the DCU Batman Has a Whole Family
With the DCU’s announcement ofThe Brave and the Bold, audiences can expect an established Batman that already has a Bat Family. This means the likes of Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and more, could very well already be allies in Batman’s war against crime, and the Bat Family most definitely deserves its chance to shine in live-action after almost exclusivelytreating Batman as a lone wolf.
Considering the DCU plans tointroduce the Bat Family, Robert Pattinson’s version of Batman seems unfit for the task, as not only is this a Batman in his second year of crime fighting, but it also doesn’t seem like the kind of Caped Crusader who would happily fight crime with Robins and Batgirls, and just randomly discovers he has a son so early into his career. Logically, it wouldn’t make sense, even with an unjust time skip.
3Two Batmen is Something Audiences Are Okay With
Robert Pattinson Deserves His Separated Gritty Emo Batman
WhileThe Flash(2023) might not have been a fan favorite, no one can deny the excitement that was established for seeing two iconic Batmen on screen (albeit not together). Considering the concepts of the multiverse and Elseworlds are commonplace for general audiences of today, it’s entirely believable and acceptable to have two separate Batman movies thatfeature in different universes.
Robert Pattinson deserves to continue playing his evolving, gritty, and realistic Batman, whereas the DCU deserves a new Batman that can embrace and make those fantastical elements believable. The DCU shouldn’t be scared of continuity and confusing general audiences to force them to merge two universes that tonally clash and in a way, breach the creative freedom of possibilities.
2The DCU Needs Fantastical Whereas Matt Reeves Needs Realism
It Would Remove the Grounded Elements of Matt Reeves’s World
One of the greatest aspects of Batman’s lore is his incredible cast of villains. Not only does Batman have one of the greatest nemesis in fiction with the Joker, but he also has an incredible Rogues Gallery that deserves the fullest attention in all their fantastical glory. The DCU needs those villains to come to life and truly make the world feel grandiose and immersive, as characters like Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and beyond, simply wouldn’t work without a level of realism and changes involved that betrays whatmakes their characters uniquein the first place.
Considering Matt Reeves’s realistic approach to Batman to the point where he needs a squirrel suit to glide instead of just using his cape, it proves that the attention to realism is the focus of The Batman Epic Crime Saga, and that’s more than okay, but just provides even deeper reasons why the DCU should go all out on fantastical to help separate the two.
1The Batman Epic Crime Saga Should Grow Its Personal Stories
Individual Stories for Penguin, Catwoman, and More Showcase a Unique Gotham City
Part of the greatest aspects ofThe Batmanis its incredible character studies of Batman and his conflicted villains. His chemistry with Catwoman is top-notch, and learning more about the Penguin as Oswald Cobb in his own HBO series shows that The Batman Epic Crime Saga is more than just a three-part trilogy about Batman and that there isroom in Gotham City for all these storiesto come to life.
While realism may prevent some fantastical villains from hitting the scene, a Gotham where psychopaths and a criminal underworld mix to create potential spin-offs for HBO, MAX, and the big screen prove that The Batman Epic Crime Saga should stay in its own separate Gotham that is not actively involved in a DCU, as it’s hard to believe Oswald Cobb waddling away from a Justice League when its obvious the series deserves grit and edge.
