Copyright Screen Rant
James Gunn’s DCU is still trying to figure out its own take on Batman, and a colorful, lighthearted, comedic take like Adam West’s Dark Knight could be just the key. Gunn’s new DCU hit the ground running earlier this year with the blockbuster success of Superman, but the real test will be whether the franchise can maintain this momentum. The next step is to round out the Justice League with other iconic DC heroes. There’s a Green Lantern TV show on the way, a Wonder Woman film in development, and projects centered around more obscure characters like Clayface, Swamp Thing, and Sgt. Rock in the works. But the DCU is struggling to land on its version of Batman. Batman is the second most important DC character after Superman, and he’s arguably even more iconic. But the DCU faces a few challenges in introducing its own Batman. The DCU’s Batman has to fit in with the bright, optimistic world established in Superman, and he has to co-exist with Matt Reeves’ ongoing The Batman franchise. Gunn has announced that the DCU’s first Batman movie will be The Brave and the Bold, a dysfunctional father-son story about Bruce Wayne training his son Damian as Robin. The Flash’s Andy Muschietti has been hired to direct the movie, but it doesn’t yet have a working script, and it’s been delayed while Reeves works on The Batman: Part II. Clearly, DC is having a tough time figuring out how to integrate the Caped Crusader into the shared cinematic universe that includes David Corenswet’s Superman, John Cena’s Peacemaker, and the Justice Gang. I think Gunn and co. should look West for the answer to their Batman problem. The DCU's Batman Should Take Inspiration From Adam West's Campy '60s TV Show I think the DCU’s Batman should take inspiration from West’s Batman TV show. Batman ran for 120 episodes from 1966 to 1968, and it remained the longest-running live-action superhero show until Smallville came along nearly half a century later. The series was renowned for its campy tone, its catchy theme tune, its tongue-in-cheek humor, and its overtly simplistic morality aimed at a young audience. Based on the story of Bruce raising sadistic young Damian Wayne, it seems as though The Brave and the Bold is going for the same dark, gritty tone we’ve seen in Reeves’ The Batman, Zack Snyder’s SnyderVerse, and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. But I think the DCU’s Batman should go the other way and embrace the campiness of West’s Batman series. Snyder’s Batman was a gun-toting murderer, and Reeves and Nolan have imagined what Batman would look like in the real world. But I’ve always thought that the more realism you try to bring to a story about a billionaire who dresses up as a bat to fight crime, the more you highlight the absurdity of the whole thing. West’s Batman show had no interest in realism. It was basically a live-action cartoon, with far-fetched gadgets, on-screen sound effect graphics, and a very loose relationship with the laws of physics. It was under no illusions that Batman is a realistic character; it leaned into the ridiculousness of it all, but played it totally straight, and the DCU needs that. A Modernized Blockbuster Version Of Adam West's Batman Would Differentiate The DCU's Batman From Matt Reeves' Films The toughest challenge for the DCU’s introduction of Batman is differentiating this version of the character from Reeves’ The Batman films. It is possible for two separate franchises built around the same character to exist concurrently — we’ve seen that with the MCU’s Spider-Man movies and Sony’s animated Spider-Verse movies — but it has to be clear to a general audience that they’re two separate things. A modernized blockbuster version of West’s campy Batman series would definitely differentiate the DCU’s Dark Knight from Reeves’ gloomy, gritty detective. It would be fascinating to see what a creative filmmaking team could do if they took the over-the-top gadgets and cartoonish fight scenes of West’s Batman show and reimagined them with a massive budget and contemporary CGI technology. A Funny, Lighthearted Batman Would Fit In Better With James Gunn's Superman Gunn has established a very specific tone for the DCU that a Batman like Nolan’s or Reeves’ wouldn’t gel with. While Gunn has made it clear that the DCU doesn’t have a house style, and it’ll follow the voices of the various filmmakers that contribute to it, it is a shared universe and all of its characters need to co-exist in the same story space. When the DCU’s Justice League finally assembles, its versions of Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, and the Flash will all have to share the screen with Corenswet’s Superman. With Superman and Peacemaker, Gunn has established a fun, humorous, brightly colored vision for the DCU, and a grimdark Batman just wouldn’t fit into that world.
