It’s been three years since the release of Matt Reeves‘ “The Batman” with Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight, and in between the success of “The Penguin” and the excitement of a new regime at DC Studios, fans and journalists can’t stop asking DC chief James Gunn about what’s going on with “The Batman Part II.”
But in a new interview, Gunn has something new to add: just chill.
“Listen, we’re supposed to get a script in June. I hope that happens. We feel really good about it. Matt’s excited. I talk to Matt all the time. I’m totally excited about it. So we can’t wait to read the scripts, but we haven’t read it yet, if that’s your question,” Gunn told Entertainment Weekly.
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If that timeline does keep and a script is delivered this month as expected, a source tells IndieWire that the expectation is the film would begin shooting in January in London.
But it still bugs Gunn to keep getting the question as he’s trying to promote his own movie “Superman,” and he didn’t hold back either: “People should get off Matt’s nuts because it’s like, let the guy write the screenplay in the amount of time he needs to write it. That’s just the way it is. He doesn’t owe you something because you like his movie. I mean, you like his movie because of Matt. So let Matt do things the way he does.”
Gunn has been clear since he first took the job at DC Studios alongside Peter Safran that he doesn’t intend to make any movie until the script is complete and in a condition he’s happy with. It reflects differently on the process — and the drama — that resulted at Marvel when movies like “Blade” would be greenlit and dated without a script, leading to countless new writers, directors, and ultimately delays.
Gunn also recently wrote on Threads that five years between franchise movies is not that uncommon. He pointed to a 14-year gap between “Incredibles” movies, seven years between “Alien” and “Aliens,” and even six years between his own “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and “Vol. 3.”
Still, “The Batman Part II” was announced by the former regime at Warner Bros. and DC at CinemaCon in April 2022, and the movie was twice delayed after being dated, with the likelihood that it won’t hit theaters until 2027. Plus, with Gunn having previously announced DC’s plans for a Batman movie based on “The Brave and the Bold” comic, one that unlike Reeves’ Batman will fit into the larger cinematic universe that begins theatrically with “Superman,” it’s fair to wonder whether a second Batman film is still a priority.
Reeves, though, is said to take his time with screenplays, even if this is a slightly longer gap between his two “Planet of the Apes” movies, but Gunn feels that the perception doesn’t really bother Reeves much anyway.
“Well, I don’t think Matt really pays attention to that stuff so much,” Gunn said. “He’s got a lot of other things happening, so I don’t think he lets it affect him. He’s fine. But I am irritated by people. I mean, it’s just that thing people don’t need to be entitled about. It’s going to come out when he feels good about the screenplay. And Matt’s not going to give me the screenplay until he feels good about the screenplay.”
“Superman” opens in theaters on Friday, July 11.
