The return of Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne is a fact and Warner Bros. has announced that ‘The Batman Part II’ by Matt Reeves will be released in theaters on October 3, 2025. The synopsis of the plot remains secret but James Gunn and Peter Safran confirmed at a press event that it will be part of a trilogy that will be outside the new DC universe in which they presented several projects in which they are involved.
an independent universe
As Gunn and Safran are developing a new DC Universe, including the 2025 theatrical release of ‘Superman: Legacy’ and a new Batman in the DC Universe with a Batman & Robin movie, based on ‘The Brave and the Bold’ comics ‘. The Reeves sequel will remain standalone and fall under the new category ‘DC Elseworlds’, where any DC movie or TV series that takes place outside of the main Universe you’ll get that tag, just the way DC Comics works.
First released in 1989, the ‘Elseworlds’ stories were created by DC to give the writers creative freedom beyond the constraints of a single universal canon, and you can rework the core mythology without affecting the main one. Gunn explained it like this:
“Yes, and DC is a multiverse, but we are going to focus on a universe from that multiverse. And if something isn’t DCU, we’ll make that very clear. As strictly for adults as Todd Phillips, Joker or, you know, children’s animation like Teen Titans Go, we’re going to make it very clear that those are DC Elseworlds in the same way that we’re doing it in the comics.”
In addition to ‘The Batman Part II’, the list of upcoming ‘DC Elseworlds’ projects includes Todd Phillips’ ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga (to be released on October 4, 2024), the ongoing animated series. ‘Teen Titans Go!’ series, and a separate Superman film produced by JJ Abrams and written by Ta-Nehisi Coates. This latest project was first announced in 2021 and remains in active development. Gunn and Safran said they are eagerly awaiting a draft of Coates’ script.