James Gunn’s Bold Batman Strategy Promises a Smarter, Stronger DCU Than Marvel’s Spider-Man
James Gunn is drawing a bold line in the sand for Batman’s future in the DC Universe, vowing to avoid Sony’s Spider-Man missteps by refusing to launch dueling films in a single year—a move he says is key to keeping Gotham’s Dark Knight out of franchise chaos.
If you're wondering when we're finally going to get a Batman mash-up in the new DC Universe, don't hold your breath for a double feature. James Gunn, now the guy steering the DCU ship, has made it pretty clear: he is not about to repeat Sony's less-than-genius move of dropping two franchise-adjacent movies in the same year. (You'll remember the Spider-Man and Venom fiasco. How could you not?)
Gunn's Rule: No Batman Overload
Recently, a fan got bold and called Gunn out on Threads, asking if he was "undervaluing the importance of Bruce Wayne being involved in the DCU." Gunn's answer? Pretty direct:
"I'm not at all. I think both Batman and WW are incredibly important. But I'm also not going to have two Batman movies come out in the same year."
Translation: We're not getting Gunn's 'The Brave and the Bold' Batman movie dropping on top of Matt Reeves' 'The Batman: Part II.' Unlike Sony, Gunn isn't setting fans (or box office numbers) up to cannibalize themselves. And thank god for that, because if you paid attention to what happened with the Spider-Verse, it was not pretty.
Remember When Sony Tried That?
In 2021, Sony dropped 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' and 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage' in the same calendar year. Sure, the movies technically didn't exist in the exact same cinematic universe, but both were riding the Spider-wave. Only one really surfed it.
- 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' had a jaw-dropping $200 million budget, and it paid off—nearly $1.9 billion worldwide. (Yeah, you read that right. Billion with a B.)
- 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage' had to make do with about $110 million (a bargain, honestly), and it brought in $501.5 million. Not awful, but when compared side-by-side with Spidey’s haul, it looks like Venom snacked on the wrong studio exec.
It's also worth pointing out: 'Let There Be Carnage' didn't just suffer because of timing. The movie scored a rotten 58% from critics and a much kinder 83% from audiences over on Rotten Tomatoes—so it wasn't exactly a crowd-pleaser all around. Still, running two spider-linked movies together? Not smart. It split the hype, and one movie obviously ate the other's lunch.
Gunn’s Approach on Timing (And Patience)
Gunn has also started dropping little nuggets about his own upcoming Batman movie, 'The Brave and the Bold.' But don’t expect a truckload of details anytime soon. He says he’s waiting on a script that works and, from the sound of it, the writing process is going to take as long as it takes. (His words: "You know what? I still think it needs one more draft to get there." Every writer ever can relate.)
To make it even clearer, Gunn said that major news about his Batman won’t be coming while Reeves is still hard at work on 'The Batman: Part II.' His priority? Not "clouding the Batsphere." Yes, that’s a thing now.
The Big Picture (For Now)
So, in summary, Gunn’s not sending two Batmen to battle at the box office just for the sake of it. He’s waiting for the right time, the right script, and basically avoiding Sony’s notorious scheduling misstep. It may annoy impatient fans, but honestly? It’s probably the sanest DC move in years.