‘The Brave and the Bold’: James Gunn Provides a Promising Update About the DCU’s Batman!!

Batman is a character who has been adapted in several forms of media, including live-action movies, animated shows, and others. Each generation has its own Batman; from Michael Keaton and Kevin Conroy to Christian Bale and Robert Pattinson – all are brilliant portrayals. But fans’ opinions and expectations of the character can never be satiated, fully in any version. So, when James Gunn announced a new Batman movie titled The Brave and the Bold as a part of his Gods & Monsters roster, the fandom was ecstatic.

In a recent podcast with comedian Tom Segura, Gunn discussed the iconic character, including whether his version will feature the blue-and-grey costume, a look the character hasn’t worn in a live-action movie for quite some time. The director noted there’s a “religious aspect” to some of these ideas that’s “very uncomfortable.” Though Gunn explained that the character and the story come first for him while envisioning Batman, he also hinted at the upcoming movie. He said,

“Should Batman have white eyes? That’s a big subject of conversation. It’s like, ‘Guys, that’s really what matters?’ But those are the things they care about. Should his utility belt be yellow? Should he have the yellow crest around the bat? All of that sort of stuff. None of those things are what’s most important to me. What matters is the character, the story and I think we have a really really good story now for what’s happening with Batman.”

James Gunn Loves All Versions of Batman

Gunn is known for putting a talking tree and a raccoon in a film and making it a hit. His offbeat humor and characters not taking themselves too seriously have emerged as his trademark, whether in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise or the latest Superman film. As for Batman, “I think that’s one of the fun things about Batman though, is that there are so many expressions of Batman that are cool, and [having] different ways to access that character is one of the ways in which he’s so iconic.”

He continued, “I don’t think it’s a matter of the blue and the grey or the black Batman. I think both those things are really cool. I like the detective Batman, but I also really like the fighter Batman, that’s just the brute that’s, you know, fighting. I like the silly ’50s Silver Age Batman, with Bat-Mite. I like all of these different versions of Batman.” Though Gunn has previously hinted that his Batman will not be a “campy” character. The Bold and The Brave will be helmed by The Flash director Andy Muschietti, details of which are kept tightly under wraps. Meanwhile, we have Matt Reeves‘ The Batman II to look forward to, which is currently being treated as an “Elseworlds” story that is not directly connected to Gunn‘s DCU.