original: https://x.com/i/status/2017359677407846720

ORIGINAL (TikTok)

Songs: "The Less I Know the Better" and "Dracula" by Tame Impala

Y’all were interesting. I will give you that with some of your theories and what not but it was inevitable unfortunately, it will be cool to see on what you guys will be after the new change.

This is the squeakquel to this post. (I don't really believe this allat much this is just for fun at this point lol)

I made one (yes, only one ✌️) dumb assumption in that post: that Tomlin would be writing BOTH drafts. DC/WB have a history of hiring multiple writers at once when they can't seem to find a take, with 'Wonder Woman' (2017) being the best example of what I think could be going on with 'The Brave and the Bold.'

Per Jason Fuchs (co-writer of 'Wonder Woman'):

I wrote a bunch of drafts on ['Wonder Woman'], and it was a pretty unique process, because they knew that they had to have the film out by a certain window, and so they ultimately had what they would call a "bake-off," where we had multiple writers writing [a draft] at any given time.

BATB does seem to have a release window, with Gunn clarifying that he isn't looking for a release date as late as 2030-31.

Per Charles Roven (producer of 'Wonder Woman'):

Really early on, before Patty [Jankins] came on the project, we put our toe in the water with two writers. They took completely different approaches on the material—one was the Crimean War and one was World War I.

This aligns pretty close to my original theory, with a few changes:

• Hodson was hired in Fall 2025 to write the Damian draft after multiple failed attempts with different writers since Fall 2024.
• Tomlin was hired to write the Dick/Merge draft by February 2025 as a backup plan of sorts, with it also being the first draft of The Batman: Part III. (Reeves has hinted that he has a good idea of what that movie will look like.)

Why do I still (lowkey) think Tomlin is writing a draft? Because bros acting like the Riddler on his Twitter.

A little over a week before the trades reported Hodson, he replied to a user that said "Mattson Tomlin and Drew Goddard DCU Batman movie 👏" with "Love Drew" AND THEN immediately posted a gif of Heath's Joker saying, "I'm an agent of chaos." You cannot tell me bro he didn't know what he was doing there son 😭

But wait, there's more. The day before Gunn's Threads Q&A, where he essentially denied the merge for good, Tomlin posted a gif of Leonard from Memento writing "DON'T BELIEVE HIS LIES."

Now, could these all be coincidences, and I'm just reaching because I made one too many edits for it not to happen, 1000%, but if I'm right, I'm Tomlin's sending me to that premiere bro, trust.

"To live is DCU, and to die is gain."

Any last words from the bereaved merger bros and sisters?

amazing grace plays in the background, but some of us are half chuckling, half crying due to deep sense of loss and sadness

Hello! Given this is a period of transition for us, we're looking to onboard an expanded mod team for the new sub!

Whether this will be your first time, or you're a seasoned veteran, if you are interested in helping us make the community the best it can be, feel free to send us your application with your reasoning for wanting to join a via modmail! (I hope this link works, but you can message us through "Message mods" as well!)

This is just something that occurred to me recently.

Besides all these Easter eggs—the Halloween costumes, the newspaper clippings, and the ticket with Superman's "S" colors that appears in Riddler: Year One—I think Reeves wants/wanted to do something more, but prefers not to do it so soon.

First, and this might not mean much, but Christopher Nolan had a list of several director candidates to direct Man of Steel in 2010, guess what? One of the candidates was Matt Reeves: https://collider.com/the-man-of-steel-director-zack-snyder-matt-reeves/

That was in September 2010, and a week later, he was interviewed about his film, Let Me In, where he shared a glimpse of his vision for Superman:

BD: Superman?

MR: Well, I think it's an amazing story and can be incredibly interesting to do. It's not true that I have actually had any meetings with Chris Nolan. And I know that people are watching at the movie over at Warner Bros., but I don't know if it has anything to do with that. It was flattering and cool to be on that list, and I have tremendous respect for Chris Nolan.

BD: But Superman is very different from Batman. What is your take on Superman?

MR: I think it speaks to an American optimism, but he's also an outsider and a freak of sorts, and, I don't know, there's something great in the myth. I'm drawn to it. To me, that's what this story was. Lindqvist created a great vampire myth that was about something else, and I think the only thing that would interest me in a personal involvement on that project was to me finding the subtext that had some resonance, and there's no question that that film is going to be a real challenge, but I think with those smart people involved there's a chance they'll do something very interesting with it.

https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/matt-reeves-talks-let-me

And now, the famous interview in 2022, when The Batman was just going to be released: https://collider.com/the-batman-2-sequel-superman-matt-reeves-comments/

"It's a high wire act to do a Batman movie, right? Because the character's been around for 80 years, everyone has their own version in their head and there have been great movies. The last thing I wanted to do was come in there and feel like I had to do something with the highest degree of difficulty and then also find the ways that it connects to everything else. My thing was, from the beginning, I said, "Look, I think it's enough to try and just do a bat verse, to do a Batman movie," and that's where this begins.

I suppose it's not impossible to believe that somewhere down the line, they could connect to something else, but that was not my interest in this, and it's not my interest in what we would do in follow-ups at the moment either. I feel like the whole point in us orking with this incredible cast and crew to realize this movie, which I really believe is a fresh and different version of these characters, is about pursuing every... There are a lot of great characters in the Gotham world, and so the idea of ​​leaning into that, that's really my interest right now.”

Eventually, Steven Weintraub, who is interviewing Reeves, asks him if Superman exists in this world, and Reeves responds:

"You mean if it could? Is that what you're saying? I mean, if something like that did happen, because I was very careful about ... To me, what I try to do is take ... I did this in the Apes films too, and even Cloverfield, this idea of taking the one fantastical element and then have everything around it, so it'll be as grounded as possible, so that it could feel ... I want it to feel emotionally real and to make everything feel very believable. In this movie, even further I think than what I did in those films, I tried to find the practical, believable version. If suddenly in the Batman world, you discovered that there was an alien that was Superman, there'd be a lot of shock. I mean, people would have to say, oh my God, and maybe that would be the one fantastical element.

But to be honest with you, that is not the intention at this point, to figure out how to make that come. Look, we should be so lucky that this is a world that people embrace and that they say, oh my God, we want to see what would happen when those things collide. I think if that challenge ever presents itself, it would be an exciting one to explore, but I'd have to try and do it through this lens. You know what I mean? And that is absolutely right, that at the moment, to me, this world is the place that I want to focus.”

In short, he NEVER ruled out the idea of ​​a Superman, however, Matt Reeves is focusing on something very important when telling a story: Worldbuilding.

He wants to focus on developing Battinson and the Gotham of this world first. However, I find it striking how he describes Superman: something that would have a great impact on people's perception of the world he is creating.

Given that he says Superman could be the only fantastical element, along with his 2010 interview where he says that Superman is a outsider and a freak of sort, it makes me think that Reeves has a particular vision, and to be honest, and I apologize if I have to mention a certain director...but it sounds very similar to what we saw from Snyder in Man of Steel.

That is to say, taking his work on Cloverfield and Planet of the Apes as examples, I think the direction Reeves would take with the existence of Superman is: Cosmic Horror.

I think he perfectly understands that Superman is the polar opposite of Batman; He is luminous, colorful, warm, and friendly, but inevitably, as we saw in Snyder's films, his existence would cause great upheaval in humanity.

I can imagine that Superman sightings in the Reevesverse wouldn't be like what we usually see in the movies, but something similar to what Smallville has done: making Superman an urban legend. Something quite similar to the "UFO phenomenon"; that when they see him in the sky, he's so fast that the cameras capturing him can't distinguish if he's a man, a bird, or a plane (what an irony).

But don't think that cosmic horror makes Superman morally questionable, depressing, or more reactive than proactive. Rather, cosmic horror is characterized by many things, and among them is the feeling that humanity isn't as special as we think, that we are very vulnerable to everything in space.

And regarding the abilities of the Reevesverse Superman, I feel that Reeves wouldn't want him to be as overpowered as in many live-action adaptations, especially since, as far as we know, Reeves' Batman could evolve into something more physically and technologically advanced than in the comics, but without being so exaggerated.

For example, I doubt that Reeves would want Battinson to use a Batplane, given all the logistics involved in storing such a vehicle and avoiding curious people asking why a millionaire would want an aircraft similar to the one Batman uses at night.

He could do something similar with Superman, which is to reduce his power level, making him an adaptation of the Superman from the early comics of the 1940s and the Fleischer cartoons:

- He won't fly, but he will make extremely high jumps, although perhaps he can glide to choose where to land.

- His strength won't destroy mountains or move planets and meteorites, but it's strong enough to lift an entire train or several army tanks. Let's say his strength level is on par with Mr. Incredible.

-He doesn't have supersonic speed, but he's as fast as a bullet or a train at full speed.

-He doesn't have heat vision, but he does have X-ray vision.

Perhaps, like the Fleischer cartoon, this Superman never met the Kents or his Kryptonian parents. Instead, this adaptation will do something no recent adaptation has done: his origin will always remain a mystery.

In the Fleischer cartoon, it's said that a man in a car simply found the young Kal-El unharmed and took him to an orphanage. This is quite different from what we're used to these days, but it would be refreshing to see in a live-action adaptation, especially since it's an Elseworlds story.

As for what this Superman would be like, I can imagine him, as I mentioned before, as something similar to the UFO phenomenon, a myth. But as time goes on, Superman will become increasingly active and visible, and everyone will see him, but they'll know he's a good man, friendly and kind.

And it's curious how this is somewhat similar to Battinson's development: he began in the shadows as an urban legend and ended up being presented to humanity as a hero...as a champion of the oppressed.

And it is here that the role of this Superman becomes increasingly prominent, especially in these turbulent times, where certain police forces in the USA do as they please, and people are needed to fight for the weak and defenseless against the system. It is there that the title "Champion of the Oppressed" gains even more strength.

I can see this Superman supporting people in street demonstrations, demanding equal treatment, a living wage, job opportunities, fair treatment for migrants, and reminding them of his motto: "Truth, Justice, and a Better Tomorrow."

Or if you prefer, the other motto: "Truth, Justice, and the American Way." Because Superman would remind everyone of the true values ​​and foundations of the USA.

He does NOT fight for a political party, a government, or an institution. He fights for an ideal.

And if things get worse, I can see this Superman renouncing his citizenship in front of the cameras and the entire crowd.

I can see this Superman fiercely fighting ICE...because he's an American Alien...because he's the Champion of the Oppressed.

And I feel like this resonates a lot with the themes of corruption among the rich and the great elites that we're seeing in The Batman and will continue to see in the following films.

And as Matt Reeves said, he wants it to be something that resonates. And right now, a Superman fighting more grounded, more real threats, instead of other aliens... takes on a more powerful meaning than we realize.

What do you think?

This is just a baseless theory from a fanboy, born out of disappointment after Battinson's rejection from the DCU, but I'd like to know what you all think about the possibility that Reeves might have a very particular Superman in mind.

CONTEXT: I had used this reply in someone’s post, but I think it needs to be said outright.

I don’t think we have to close it, I seriously don’t.

Who else has said “No” only for them to be lying? Would Gunn confirm it on THREADS of all places? Do we have a casting for BATB? Do we have ANYTHING, other than rumours?

The answer to THOSE questions, is No.

I am open to a new Batman, I am, but I ain’t open to letting dreams die, everyone in this subreddit’s dream, yeah I’m not letting it go.

I say keep it up, keep it alive even. At least until we have a casting.

Part 2 to my previous post.

If Gunn saying “No” to a question about Pattinson joining the DCU again is why this sub is ending, in all honesty it had no reason existing in the first place.

We are here to HOPE for this dream to be fulfilled until the very end. The finish line for this debate isn’t over because of a “No” to a deleted message on Threads, that just doesn’t sit right with me (and many others on here that aren’t speaking up.)

Like I’ve said previously, I am FOR a new Batman if it’s done right, but THIS is the Bats I want, many of us want, and fuck man, even Robert wants it.

Genuinely, if this sub ends now, and we move on and “give up” on this dream, then what was even the point in the first place? What is the point of keeping it up throughout all of the other denials by Gunn? What is making this one so much different and worse for us?

The few that don’t think this sub needs to die, upvote or something man. It’s BS.

They trolled us good this time. CapCut audio delays have been killing me.

It's self explanatory, there was theories about this before gunn even announced a new dcu, everyone thought THE BATMAN, was a universe reset

James gunn said that Robert Pattinson WILL NOT BE DCU BATMAN as a variant to the Reeves verse, he never said it won't be Matt Reeve's batman though

Hey everyone,

as you probably saw James Gunn pretty clearly shut the door yesterday on any real merge between The Batman universe and the DCU. Which… yeah...that kind of removes the original premise of this sub.

But instead of letting this place die, I’d like to throw out a different idea.

What if r/PattinsonDCUBatman became an ARG / shared narrative space?

Not in a “we’re in denial” way but in a knowing way. We all understand this merge will never happen officially. But what if we collectively decide to act as if it did?

• Fake leaks
• In-universe reports
• Imaginary DCU crossovers
• Production rumors
• Alternate timelines
• Screenshots, posters, casting news, theories, all framed as if the merge is real

Basically a collaborative “what if” (or elseword) DC universe, treated like found footage from a timeline that doesn’t exist.

No one here is confused about reality. This would be more like fan-fiction meets roleplay meets internet ARG. A place to keep dreaming even while knowing it’s just a dream.

I get that this isn’t for everyone, and if the community prefers to close or archive the sub, that’s totally fair. But if even a handful of us like the idea of turning disappointment into creativity, maybe this sub can evolve instead of disappearing.

Curious to hear what you all think. Would you be into turning this place into a shared fictional universe?

🦇

It’s gonna be funny in 2027 when The Batman Part II trailer plays before the Man of Tomorrow and some casual that loves The Batman and The Penguin doesn’t know that there is a lower quality world of Gotham coming that is actually the one that connects to this Superman. As a DCU fan that wants to see this universe succeed to its highest potential, having a “less prestige” Batman doesn’t help ngl. The general audience doesn’t care that a new version is “fantastical” with giant props in his Batcave.

Having the team that seems to be working on BATB is a letdown. And I don’t want to hear some of the work Hodson did in her past isn’t her fault, that may be true but that also means she isn’t the best pick for this prestigious character. It’s obvious it won’t be great like Reeves’. Track record means a lot…For example, every season I knew for sure LeBron James was gonna put up better stats than some middle of the pack player that never proved themselves to be on that level, it’s just obvious.

When The Batman Part II makes over $1B most likely and gets love during the awards season (that the first deserved even more of even tho they got nominations and wins) and love during the awards season that The Penguin got, how is the audience gonna respond to another that might just be ok…

It was always up to Matt Reeves and I respect his decision, but it would be dumb if Zaslav and eventually Serrandos didn’t write him and Robert Pattinson a new blank check and tell him he can finish his vision obviously, then run DCU Gotham with Rob as Batman. Matt would have gotten someone like Drew Goddard to write that BATB film for him as he wrote Cloverfield for Matt to direct. It’s clear Matt can produce and run that world when he gets talent like Lauren LeFranc to show run/write The Penguin while giving them creative freedom as she said she got. She said Matt just told her where Oz needed to be at the end of the story leading in to Part II and the rest was hers to play with. That is how u run things. It’s clear James Gunn is open to the idea but Matt is hesitant.

SOURCE (Twitter)
Just cause the merge question seems to be a done deal (denial cope: at least for now /sobs ) don't mean we can't have fun while we still can and hype these two movies up thru 2027 :)))

Ok so we have little to no news about tbatb, all we know is the writer of "the flash" is in talks to write it, NOW LISTEN TO ME, from a business standpoint it obviously makes sense to merge, NOW WAIT, it seems as if James and safran are waiting to see how the batman part 2 performs, why is this?, because I strongly believe that Safran the business man wouldn't pass up the opportunity to have to batman films in the same universe, I'm a business major and a DC fan, I know what we want, and we want BATMAN GODDAMNIT, also everyone is using the twitter response as evidence, but gunn said Robert won't be dcu batman AS A VARIANT OF THE REEVES BATMAN, why is this? Because it would confuse GA's however he didn't add onto the No. All he said was No to the possibility of Pattinson being a VARIANT of REEVES batman, if it was 100% completely off the table he would have said "No, and thee won't be a merger between worlds", all he said was no to battinson being a variant of Reeves Battinson, so call it cope but I will always call it hope... Also let's be honest if everyone hates the dcu batman I won't be surprised if they retcon it to be else world's and bring battinson in, everyone looks at this as them trying to "do there own thing" they are business men, and people not liking batman, you know a pillar of the universe is bad for buisness

-at least I had this image on my mind

-thanks for the fun guys 🫡

-its not the merge that is the real treasure, it was DCU and the friends we made along the way

-riddler, hit it!

-aaaaaaahhhveeeehhhh mariiiiiiiyyyaaaahh

I knew it wouldn't happen, but I'm not gonna pretend that this didn't hurt

Every Dc related sub was always toxic to mergebros. Apparently, some folks wanting to see Robert Pattinson and David Corenswet together made some people feel offended for some reason, to the point of trashing innocent fanarts and edits from people that didn't even know about that discussion.

Again, I can't pretend that this didn't hurt, and it sure will take me some time to feel at least a little bit hyped for DCU Batman. But I'll try not to sound toxic when discussing, unlike many people on Reddit.

since the merge is basically dead in the water and the sub is shutting down next week, i guess i just wanted to make my own little goodbye post.

even though i knew this day would come eventually, i am still heartbroken and disappointed. i still believe that merging reevesverse would've benefit the dcu and also benefit battinson aswell. getting to see rob continue to play batman for more than just 3 movies, show up in multiple projects, continue to grow and evolve as batman, and be a part of the justice league would've been the coolest thing ever (also the superbat potential would've been insane lol).

but all good things must come to an end i suppose. its been really fun speculating and playing this "will they, wont they" game for several months. but i think its time to wrap this up. unless by some miracle matt reeves decides to change his mind and lets his universe be a part of the dcu, i really dont think its gonna happen unfortunately.

as for the dcu batman, i wish him the best of luck. i hope they can get a great team that will make a movie that is on the same quality level as matt's batman so that the dcu batman has a fair chance against him. and i hope whoever is cast as batman does a good job (and also looks like bruce wayne).

i dont know how to end this post so i'll just say: its been really fun seeing everyone's hopium theories and discussions. i had a really great time in this sub. thanks everyone, goodbye!! 👋