What’s Next For The Caped Crusader?
Let’s face it: at this point, the future of the DCEU is looking rather shaky in light of Justice League’s underwhelming box office. More dubious still is Ben Affleck’s continuing involvement in the franchise, which seems to flip flop every other day. Justice League even contains a moment in which Bruce laments to Diana that he’s becoming too old and outclassed to be of any use going forward. But whether Affleck decides to keep the cowl or relinquish it, we can already guess at what the future holds for Batman in the DCEU.
Indeed, the Bat is mostly envisioned as a loner in pop culture, such as in The Dark Knight Trilogy. But many other iterations of the World’s Greatest Detective have seen him forming teams and mentoring heroes. Moreover, the DCEU’s Batman clearly trained up fellow vigilantes in the past, but became too embittered to continue doing so.
We even saw Jason Todd’s costume mournfully displayed in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Therefore, the events of that film and Justice League have effectively reset the character for future movies to expand upon. And this focus on Batman’s collaborative nature seems to be what Warner Bros. has in mind for our hero.