To paraphrase Zoolander‘s Jacobim Mugatu; multiversal superhero blockbusters are so hot right now.
Spider-Man: No Way Home has been laughing in the face of the pandemic to become the top-earning domestic title of 2021 in the space of 72 hours after landing the second highest-grossing weekend of all-time, while it’s already the sixth biggest box office hit of the year after spending just five days in theaters.
Next up is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in May, before the DCEU throws its hat into the ring in November when The Flash finally arrives. In the case of the latter, we know that Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen will encounter Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton’s Batmen, but that’s just the beginning of the franchise’s plans.
SnyderVerse alumni J.K. Simmons tantalizingly referred to the DC multiverse when explaining how his Justice League Jim Gordon fits into HBO Max’s Batgirl, but Matt Reeves and The Batman are having absolutely nothing to do with it.
In the latest issue of Empire magazine, it’s revealed that one of the conditions for the director making the film was that he “emphasized to Affleck and Warner Bros. that he would ‘need to be able to create an iteration with a personal aspect to it,’ which wasn’t obliged to ‘connect with all these other things’ in the DCEU”.
Producer Dylan Clark followed that up in no uncertain terms by saying “Warner Bros. has a multiverse where they’re exploring different ways to use the character … We don’t get involved in that”, so it’s pretty clear The Batman will be standing independently.