Establishing a cohesive cinematic universe which allows multiple big-name characters to coexist continues to exist as a big recent staple in movie culture. Ranging from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to the DC Extended Universe, to the monster movie-based Dark Universe, this strategy allows companies to focus on broad audience and continually draw them in. This strategy is not surprising; however, it seems like the DCEU has adapted a new and unexpected idea: they are potentially making The Batman separate from the DCEU. The nature of this separation, however, has caused unrest amongst DC fans.
To understand this decision, many have been reading deeply into the recent words of director Matt Reeves, which may cause them to misconstrue the point of his statements. Reeves explains this controversial concept by saying that “when [the company] approached me, what they said was ‘look, it’s a standalone, it’s not part of the extended universe.’” However, it’s a comment that seems easily misinterpreted, especially given how much pressure seems to be riding on Warner Bros. to make a successful new Batman franchise.
This has led many to float theories around to try and make sense of Reeves’ statement, trying to interpret what this will mean for the state of the DCEU. However, maybe a standalone is just what it appears to be on the tin. Even if the praxis of the DCEU is based on interaction between characters, it doesn’t mean that those characters are required to interact in every film.
If anything, it might even be refreshing to have a superhero film that doesn’t waste time with big characters that are unnecessary in the context of the story. Considering how many iterations we’ve seen of Bruce Wayne in theaters, it might be wise to focus on ensuring that the film portrays him to the best of its ability. One of the virtues of Wonder Woman was that it centered so completely on Diana and her story that we could fully invest ourselves in her experience. Why not learn from the most successful DCEU film to date?
This is an analysis that Reeves seems to believe. On Twitter, he explains that “[he] was talking about The Batman being story specifically about Batman.” He goes on to add that the story will not spend time focusing on “cameos servicing other stories.” In other words, The Batman will be centering on its title.
He goes on to add that the story will not spend time focusing on “cameos servicing other stories.” In other words, The Batman will be centering on its title.
…not about the others in the Universe. That it wouldn’t be filled with cameos servicing other stories — that it would be a BATMAN story.
— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) August 24, 2017
Sometimes in interviews, it’s hard for people to use the perfect phrasing and they don’t word things as carefully as they may like. This seems to be the case here. After that, well, there’s really nothing more to unpack.
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