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Batman is hands down one of the most popular superheroes currently on the silver screen. It seems anytime the DCEU is in trouble they lean on The Dark Knight to swoop in and save the day. Though we currently have 3 different actors portraying Batman. How has the DC Universe become this fractured? Can DC continue down this path with Batman or do they need a change?
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0:00
Can somebody tell me what kind of a world we live in where a man dressed up as a bat gets all of my press
0:09
Looking back to the arc of the original Tim Burton Batman franchise
0:13
it seems quaint that only one actor played Batman on the big screen at a time
0:18
Today, there's Battinson, Batfleck, Keaton's Batman, Lego Batman, and even a baby Batman in Todd Phillips' Joker
0:26
all enjoying the fruits of the role simultaneously. Is it possible there's just too many Batman
0:33
I'm Batman. Outrageous! I'm Batman. Hey, I'm more Batman than Batman, man
0:40
Warner Brothers, locked in an arms race against the MCU, constantly trying to prove their fiscal viability
0:47
within the already overcrowded superhero landscape. They seem to only really have one go-to move
0:53
make a Batman thing. There's never any room for experimentation and reinvention
0:58
Just do what worked before. But is this approach the right way for DC to plant a flag for the future of their company
1:06
Cast your mind back to 2005, when Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy would ostensibly reshape the modern conception of a superhero movie
1:14
In fact, it's out of the success of these films, and the failure of Superman Returns
1:18
that Warners decided to go all in on giving the DCEU its first few opportunities
1:24
The brass decided to pivot the already-in-development Superman Returns sequel, titled Man of Steel
1:30
into being a reboot that would launch a new interconnected universe. And thus, the DCEU was born
1:37
Thank you for believing in me. It didn't make much difference in the end
1:42
For better or worse, Man of Steel underperformed, and Warners wanted no chances taken
1:47
They viewed Batman as the only truly financially stable element that they had to guarantee a film would be a hit But without Christian Bale iconic portrayal able to be incorporated into the universe Zack Snyder was given the very difficult task of casting a new
2:03
Batman only years after the last and arguably most popular one had just left the stage. Thus
2:10
Ben Affleck's loosely Frank Miller-inspired version of Bruce Wayne graced the screen in
2:14
Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice. Despite initially being decried by the fanbase
2:19
he has since been embraced and has a strong contingent of fans
2:23
who think he's literally the best version of the character ever. Tell me, do you bleed
2:30
In rapid succession, the DCEU expanded. Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, and Justice League were released
2:37
all of which feature Bruce Wayne. Unlike in the comics where Superman is the jumping-off point
2:43
and in-story leader of the universe, Affleck's Batman was the go-to stabilizing element
2:48
for any project that DC viewed as even a little risky. Unfortunately, that risk mitigation strategy wasn't enough
2:56
The DCEU started crumbling before it had really even had a chance
3:00
to lay a solid foundation for itself. And just as the financials became unstable
3:06
there's somehow more and more Batman pumped into the ecosystem every year
3:10
Whatever you do, wherever you go, I'm watching you. In the next stage of the DCEU
3:18
Warners opted to produce a few films in their slate that kept the casting established by the first phase of films
3:25
Wonder Woman 84, Aquaman, Birds of Prey, and the like. However, these films often act as standalone features
3:32
not reliant on any of the continuity or intertextuality of the previous shared universe
3:37
but not actively contradicting it either. The other cohort of films that were produced
3:42
were all in their own universes. If things worked, then they could figure out how to connect them and cross them over later
3:50
This is how you get Todd Phillips R Joker the Snyder Cut and the gritty pseudo Halloween adaptation The Batman Three major adaptations featuring Batman happening simultaneously
4:02
Hey, when all else fails, just do more Batman. I've seen you go through similar phases in 2016 and 2012 and 2008 and 2005
4:11
Today, the DCEU has now been thrown yet another curveball. Warners has been sold by AT&T to Discovery
4:19
And what does the CEO, David Zaslav, do as the primary order of business on virtually his first day in office
4:27
He says, We're riding this ship. We're going to fix DC. But we're in a bit of a complicated pickle
4:33
There's three Batman on the big screen currently. Ben Affleck's supposedly going to appear in both The Flash and Aquaman 2
4:41
Michael Keaton is going to appear in The Flash and any number of the other DCEU projects
4:46
and Robert Pattinson is going to remain in his own little corner for now
4:50
That's a lot of Batmans. And that's to say nothing to the fact that the CW
4:55
is trying to make us care about a Gotham Knights show. Batwoman was recently canceled
5:00
David Zaslav pulled the plug on Batgirl. Alfred has his own show where he's a spy
5:05
Even Joker is getting a sequel. And it's a musical? What is happening
5:10
My life is nothing but a comedy. Is this just too much Batman
5:15
From a financial standpoint, it doesn't appear to be. All of these projects are making money and pushing the brand forward
5:22
However, the half-life for reinvention and reinterpretation is getting shorter and shorter, frankly
5:28
Currently, we're living in a world that is being asked to accept a half a dozen versions of the same mythology at once
5:35
When will we reach a breaking point? When there's seven simultaneous Batman
5:39
When there's a Justice League of nothing but Batman? They've done literally that in the comics before
5:44
Maybe that a novel way of trying to legitimize this overabundance of everyone favorite billionaire playboy Or maybe just maybe the new twin Kevin Feige James Gunn and Peter Safran should sort things out so there just a single Batman to
6:00
build the franchise around. Marvel didn't have 15 Captain Americas or 15 Tony Starks running around
6:07
They achieved what no one else had because they rallied their creative efforts around a singular
6:11
interpretation of a beloved character. They took risks and they committed to them
6:16
That is America's ass. For the past half decade, DC has been trying to tell us that all of their productions are connected canonically via a multiverse
6:26
We're supposed to just accept it and hold the near dozen versions of different Dark Nights in our head
6:32
This presents both the fans and the DC brass with an increasingly difficult predicament
6:37
People love Batfleck, but it seems like with every increasing day, Ben Affleck has other mountains he wants to climb
6:44
Simultaneously, the Batman really struck a chord with viewers over the pandemic
6:48
However, the world that the movie exists in just flat out isn't the world of a Batman
6:53
who's a part of the Justice League, which presents a Catch-22. Do you let the Batman finish its trilogy, which will take at least another five years
7:02
and then cast a new Batman to jumpstart the gun Safran DCU on
7:06
Or do you continue with the Keaton Batman, relegating everyone's favorite crime fighter to a supporting Nick Fury-esque role in the universe
7:13
In some ways, it just seems like an unwinnable scenario. You're becoming quite a celebrity
7:19
The future of the DCU rests on how Gunn and Safran decide to reconcile this conundrum
7:25
Will they have an elegant solution that threads the needle and keeps the Snyder fans happy
7:29
or will they miss the mark and end up stuck in a quagmire that's the equivalent of a Batman-shaped mustache on Henry Cavill's upper lip
7:37
Only time will tell. The only real answer that I can see is very simple
7:41
The new Gunn and Saffron era of the DC Cinematic Universe should be built around Terry McGinnis
7:48
I am Batman
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