NFL
By: Rick O’Donnell
The new DC Studios is enjoying quite a successful run under the control of James Gunn and Peter Safran. Their first official release Creature Commandos just got a second season. The Superman trailer is the most-watched trailer in the studio’s history. Now The Penguin is starting to hit its award season stride. With the recent news that the sequel to The Batman starring Robert Pattinson has been pushed back to finish the scripts, is it time that DC pivots on the movie sequel? Would it make more sense if the planned movie turned into a television series?
While DC Studios and Warner Bros. would love the box office success that comes with a Batman movie, they’re in a very awkward position. First, they’re trying to develop a sequel to a Batman movie for Matt Reeves for the success he had with the original movie. Then James Gunn and Peter Safran have their own shared universe Batman to establish. While they can claim fans wouldn’t be confused by two separate Batman actors, that is yet to be seen. We’ve already been giving the line that they’ll be their own separate thing, as Gunn himself referred to the Pattinson Batman as an “Elseworlds” story and their new version will be in the main DCU continuity.
Sure, comic books have been doing this for years and no one has batted an eye but there’s a problem. Comic books are made for comic book readers. You’re catering to that audience. When it comes to movies, you’re not only catering to comic book fans you have to consider comic book movie fans, fans of those actors, and casual movie fans who just tag along on a movie night because that’s what everyone wants to see. Is every single demographic this is put out for going to understand why Robert Pattinson plays Batman in this movie and a yet-to-be-seen actor played in the next? Nothing says audience frustration than having to overly explain things to your viewing party because you’re the only one who gets it.
But that’s not the only reason they should pivot. When it comes to superhero movies, they’re all getting a bit too long, especially when establishing new characters. With the Riddler behind bars in the previous film, and the Joker having been done to death, you almost have to start over. There would have to be a balance between finding a rhythm for establishing a backstory while continuing the story of the original film. That’s not completely unheard of nor should it be too hard, but at the end of the day, television allows a bit more flexibility. A story could be told better through the scope of eight 45-minute episodes and audiences would have their line between the television Batman and the DCU Batman.
Not to mention, Matt Reeves and crew absolutely crushed The Penguin series. Not only did they fantastically tell a story, they walked away with not one, but two villains who could easily carry on the story. They developed enough backstory through The Batman and now The Penguin that they could work in a story for Selina Kyle and Sophia Falcone/Gigante. The Matt Reeves Bat-verse is strong so far and there were, at one point, rumors that they wanted to not only do a second season of The Penguin but also bring other villains into the fold.
If the budget can make it work, why not let Matt Reeves and company keep developing for HBO/Max and re-establish their television programming. We were treated to plenty of success with CW shows, now DC Studios should focus more on the grittier and edgier version for adults on HBO/Max. Unless there are plans to bring the future Batman actor to the small screen, then this would be the perfect separation of characters played by different actors.
