Deadline reports that The Batman sequel is moving from its original release date of October 3, 2025 to October 2, 2026. The reason for the delay is said to be the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that took place last year.

Some also say that this further release will give some room from the new DCU continuity that James Gunn and Peter Safran are kickstarting with Superman. Not to mention there is also a different Dark Knight film with Andy Muschietti called Batman: Brave and the Bold, which will have a new actor that isn’t Pattinson.

For now, it’s being said that Matt Reeves’ version of Batman is going to be part of an ‘Elseworlds’ brand for DC—which will also include Todd Phillips’ Joker movies.  It’s unclear where Gunn wants to take everything, but it does look like he and Safran are trying to future-proof the franchise by allowing light to be shed on lesser-known characters while at the same time releasing films for the more popular established DC icons.

Let’s just hope that the management in WB is going all-in on his plan, as compared to Zack Snyder who had a plan, but was beat down by studio meddling and blamed for the franchise’s failure.

The Batman Part II is set to release in theatres Oct. 2, 2026.

What’s interesting is, on Threads, Gunn has shared that he’s actually hired an entire writers room of “DCU Architects” and he reveals all of them for the New Year. Here’s the post:

https://twitter.com/DCULatest/status/1741648087137792166

The photo also came with the caption:

“2023 what a year! A lot of my favorite moments I can’t post because of spoilers, but here are a few from getaways to premieres to writers rooms to publicity tours to spreading my dad’s ashes in Ireland. 2023 was a year of hard work and incredible challenges – but so many wonderful moments within all that. Family, friends, dogs, and films forever. Thanks to everyone who made this year so great. 2023“

According to @DCULatest, the photo from left to right includes Chantal Nong (The Suicide Squad producer), Jeremy Slater (Head Writer for Moon Knight), Christina Hodson (Writer for The Flash and Birds of Prey), Drew Goddard (Writer for Daredevil), Christal Henry (Co-showrunner for Waller), Gunn (DCU Co-CEO) Tom King (DC Comics writer), Galen Waisman (Producer for The Flash), and Safran (DCU Co-CEO).

Though the team does have a lot of seasoned writers from the DC side of things, we also have some members who have worked for the Marvel side. Heck, some people can forget that Gunn also cut his teeth on Marvel properties before jumping onto DC; what with him bringing us the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

With Snyder not having a clear team of writers, hopefully Gunn presenting his whole team for his version of the DCU is a good sign. Then again, even Lucasfilm had a story group, and we saw how muddled up the Star Wars properties have gotten lately.

Let’s just hope that Gunn manages to pull this off when his DCU officially launches in 2025.

Talking to ComicBook, Gadot has confirmed that WW3 starring herself is still a go, and she’ll be working on development with the DC co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran. Gadot shares, “I love portraying Wonder Woman… It’s so close to and dear to my heart. From what I heard from James and from Peter is that we’re gonna develop a Wonder Woman 3 together.”

So far, no details about the story or director has been revealed for the project, but it would be safe to say that the story will take place in the new established continuity of James Gunn’s DC. So far, only Blue Beetle has been confirmed to take place in that timeline, but fans are eagerly waiting for more details down the line.

Out of all the original Zack Snyder Justice League members, it’s probably Gal Gadot who has appeared in more recent properties, cementing her Wonder Woman role. She had appeared in a short cameo in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and she also made a brief appearance in The Flash.

With both Wonder Woman films having been period pieces, it would be great if we could actually follow Diana in a modern setting, and see how she deals with women issues in today’s world.

I’m just crossing my fingers they hire back Patty Jenkins. Though I wasn’t the biggest fan of WW84, I think Jenkins deserves to see her story through.

No release date has been announced for Wonder Woman 3.

Talking to THR, Affleck confirms, “I would not direct something for the Gunn DC. Absolutely not… I have nothing against James Gunn. Nice guy, sure he’s going to do a great job. I just wouldn’t want to go in and direct in the way they’re doing that. I’m not interested in that.”

We don’t know why Affleck would be so apprehensive when it comes to coming back to the DC banner, but it’s said that his terrible experience shooting Justice League could have had something to do with his decision. Back in the early days of the DCEU pre-studio meddling, Affleck was actually set to direct his own Batman solo movie; but things went south, and that’s how we ended up with Robert Pattinson as Batman.

For now, it looks like Affleck is going to close the chapter on his Batman with one final appearance in The Flash. We don’t know what exactly goes down, but fans are suspecting that Batfleck will die in the beginning of the film, which will result in Barry jumping to an alternat dimension where Bruce is alive—only this time, he’s played by Michael Keaton.

It’s still sad to see Affleck let go of Batman, but if he really was miserable making those film, I wouldn’t put it past him to try and move on.

For now, catch Affleck in The Flash which hits theaters on June 16.

The good news is, it looks like they could be allowed to stay, but it’s ultimately up to the actors. Variety writes:

“Safran and Gunn left the door open for Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller and Zachary Levi to continue playing their respective DC superheroes of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash and Shazam, but Gunn reiterated that Henry Cavill will not continue as Superman. Otherwise, the execs said, they will be casting new actors in the roles.”

So far, other DCEU actors who are going to be keeping their roles include Viola Davis (Suicide Squad) who will be starring in her own HBO Max spinoff series Waller, and probably everyone else on the Peacemaker series.

It’s also worth noting that properties outside of the main timeline like Joker: Folie a deux and The Batman Part II will be releasing under a new banner called DC Elseworlds. The Black Superman project also falls under this banner, and is still in active development.

Just in case, you missed it, here’s Gunn’s announcement for the first ‘chapter’ of the rebooted DCU dubbed Gods and Monsters:

Here are just a few of our plans. Up, up, and away! #DCStudios #DCU @DCComics pic.twitter.com/8XNDNLUEPq

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) January 31, 2023

For now, DC is gearing up for the release of Shazam! Fury of the Gods which hits theaters on March 17.

Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Safran says, “This was such a unique opportunity to tell one great overarching story… One beautiful big story across film, television gaming, live-action, and animation.”

Their plans do sound ambitious, but planning is a whole different thing when it comes to execution. If anything, the two have already met with the ‘best thinkers’ to really figure out where they should take the franchise moving forward. Gunn explained:

“We spent the past couple days with a group of some of the best thinkers in the industry, the best writers in the industry starting to map out that eight to 10 year plan of what it’s going to look like in theater, in TV, in animation, across the board for these characters.” 

We don’t have any specifics on their plan yet, but I have a feeling they’re going to wait until next year’s DC FanDome to give us an idea. That should give them enough time to kickstar develp[ment on several different projects, as well as meet with any directors for the next batch of DC films.

Though Marvel is riding high right now, I’ve always kind of rooted for DC to be the one to try something different. Snyder was kind of doing that when his DCEU was starting out, but with Gunn and Safran at the helm, I wonder how things could be different.

As per an official announcement, DC Studios will now be led by producer Peter Safran and The Suicide Squad director James Gunn. The two will serve as co-chairmen and CEOs of the DC franchise, and will answer directly to David Zaslav, WB Discovery head.

When it comes to their responsibilities, Gunn and Safran will be ‘responsible for the overall creative direction of the storied superhero franchise across film, TV, and animation under new unified banner.’

Zaslav says about the partnership:

“DC has among the most entertaining, powerful, and iconic characters in the world and I am thrilled to have the singular and complementary talents of James and Peter joining our world-class team and overseeing the creative direction of the storied DC Universe. Their decades of experience in filmmaking, close ties to the creative community, and proven track record thrilling superhero fans around the globe make them uniquely qualified to develop a long-term strategy across film, TV, and animation, and take this iconic franchise to the next level of creative storytelling.”

It’s certainly bizarre seeing Gunn become the co-lead of Marvel’s rival franchise. Though it seemed like he was only working with DC temporarily before he was re-hired by Marvel, he’s now solidified to work for the studio for four more years, and as the franchise head no doubt.

I wonder what Kevin Feige has to say about all of this.

We don’t know what DC plans for the future, but Black Adam is currently showing in theaters.