WB Announces Three Batman Movies Are In Development
Despite the massive hype Warner Bros has been trying to drum up for November’s Justice League movie, they’re showing signs they may not be as confident in the current DC Cinematic Universe as they once were. Director Matt Reeves, charged with bringing the next solo Batman movie to life, has now publicly stated that the movie may exist in a separate continuity.
Reeves told station KCRW in an interview (later picked up by Entertainment Weekly) that WB approached him about making a “standalone” movie that is “not part of the extended universe.” It wasn’t what he set out to do; it’s what the suits wanted. And it turns out this isn’t the only DC movie in development to break from canon.
WB has announced a movie centered on the Joker, to be directed by Martin Scorsese. The flick would be an origin story for the Clown Prince of Crime, yet it won’t resemble any canon origin story from any other continuity — in fact, it won’t even be in the same continuity as the Batman movie you just read about. For an audience just getting used to the idea of shared universes, this is going to get confusing, but it doesn’t stop there.
On that same day, WB also announced a second Joker movie would be filmed, this one set in the main DC movie universe and starring Jared Leto. Margot Robbie would also return as Harley and the studio is describing the project as a “criminal love story.” At a time when most versions of Harley are backing away from the Joker pairing because of its domestic abuse issues, it’s strange to see WB dive into this — though in this case he might NOT abuse her.
So we’ve got three Batman movies, two of them Joker solo outings, and two of them non-canon. Call me kooky buuuuut….I think WB just might not know what they’re doing.