Matt Reeves Clarifies ‘The Batman’s DC Extended Universe Status

Holy miscommunication Batman!

After director Matt Reeves’ comments that his upcoming movie, The Batman, would be “a standalone“ movie that “isn’t part of the [DC] Extended Universe,” made big waves on the internet, Reeves took to Twitter to clarify his earlier remarks. Here’s exactly what he said:

Just to be clear: Of COURSE Batman will be part of the D.C. Universe. Batman will be BATMAN......In my comments from a while back about not being part of the DCEU, I was talking about The Batman being a story specifically about Batman...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.

On some level, this is semantics. If The Batman is just about Batman, and doesn’t feature cameos from any other DCEU characters, then whether it is officially in that universe or not is almost irrelevant. It’s like that old proverb: If a tree falls in the woods and it doesn’t land on Green Lantern, does it even make a sound that can be heard in The Flash?

Plus, in the interim between Reeves’ interview and his later clarification, news has emerged that Warners is planning two different Joker movies, an origin story and a love story with him and Harley Quinn, potentially with two different versions of the character, and perhaps even two different actors in the role. Even if The Batman is still technically a part of the DC Extended Universe, there is clearly a movement to broaden the types of movies Warners makes with their DC characters. So while The Batman might remain in the DCEU it now seems entirely plausible that Warners could also make other Batman movies outside the scope of the DCEU. Bring on The Doom That Came to Gotham!