James Gunn Told You Once, He’s Told You Again: Robert Pattinson Is Not the DCU’s Batman

As the world waits for more Batman to hit the big screen, James Gunn wants you to know and internalize that Robert Pattinson won’t be double dipping.

On Threads, a fan asked if Pattinson could play a DCU variant separate from the version he plays in Matt Reeves’ Bat-movies. Gunn’s answer? A firm “no,†reaffirming past comments he’s made about keeping his and Reeves’ continuities separate from one another.

While he’s been open about Batman being a tricky character to incorporate, he said in 2025 it was “certainly not the plan†to have Pattinson portray two Batmen, despite online chatter hoping that’d be the case.

Welp no Pattison as DCU Batman pic.twitter.com/BLR4RCcitr

— Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK) January 28, 2026

That’s where Andy Muschietti’s Brave and the Bold comes in. Announced at the start of Gunn’s tenure, that film recently bagged a writer in Birds of Prey and The Flash’s Christina Hodson. In a separate Threads post, Gunn came to her defense, saying anyone holding the latter film against her “has almost certainly never read an actual screenplay by Christina. She’s one of the writers who was with us early in the DCU planning stages. I don’t think you can judge my writing based on films others directed, as massive liberties are sometimes taken.â€

So for fans hoping to see David Corenswet and Pattinson share the big screen together, you’ll have to keep waiting: a different actor will put on the cowl for Brave and whatever movies we get Batman in Gunn’s universe. Meanwhile, Pattinson will reprise his Batman in October 2027’s The Batman Part II.

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