“But I’m committed…”: James Gunn Originally Wanted Robert Pattinson’s Batman in DCU
- Fans still do not know who will be starring as Batman in the DCU.
- James Gunn admitted that he had considered bringing Robert Pattinson into the rebooted franchise.
- Gunn also addressed the one concern fans have had about the show Lanterns so far.
It has been quite some time since James Gunn announced the DCU reboot and the first fruits of his and co-CEO, Peter Safran’s vision are going to materialize on the screens soon. While the first Superman movie featuring David Corenswet as the titular superhero is all set to fly on the big screen next year, fans are yet to find out who is going to take on the role of Batman.
Batman is one of the most beloved DC superheroes, so it seems understandable that fans are eagerly waiting to find out who will be the next actor to don the suit this time. Some have been wondering if Gunn has considered bringing Robert Pattinson into the DCU and in a recent interview, he confirmed exactly that and also explained why he backed out.
James Gunn Wanted to Bring Robert Pattinson into DCU
When the reboot of DCU was announced, Matt Reeves’ The Batman franchise was already in action. So it was a bit of a surprise for fans when it was revealed that these two versions of the Caped Crusader would be going side by side in two different worlds.
DCU’s version of the character will first show up in Andy Muschietti’s The Brave and the Bold which will be adapted from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s Batman and Robin run. This sounds like a great plan, but fans cannot help wondering why Gunn did not just bring in Pattionson’s character instead of hiring someone new.
In an interview on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, the Guardians of the Galaxy director revealed that he had actually considered doing that. He said:
I’ve contemplated it, yeah. I contemplate everything and talk about everything. I’m committed to both telling stories in the DCU and telling Elseworlds stories. We want to be able to tell a story where Superman is very different or tell a Red Sun story or whatever. We want to be able to play with these characters in different ways.
Gunn further said that the reason he loves DC comic books more than Marvel ones is that the former has plenty of material to facilitate the existence of two versions of the same character- one in mainstream DCU and the other in the Elseworlds. Last year, while answering a fan’s question on Threads, he clarified that it was not so much about permission as it was about Matt Reeves’ choice which they all respected.
James Gunn Addressed the Complaints About Lanterns Being a “grounded” Story
Lanterns is the latest effort to make a successful adaptation of the superhero, Green Lantern. After the unforgettable disaster that the Ryan Reynolds starrer movie turned out to be years ago, there has not been a notable adaptation of the character so far. However, that is about to change.
The only thing that fans seem to be complaining about at this point about this new adaptation is that it has a “grounded” story. James Gunn addressed this concern in the interview, saying:
The thing that keeps getting out is that it’s a terrestrial story and I’m like, ‘Yeah, because the story takes place on Earth.’ They’re on Earth for the story, like most Green Lantern stories. It’s not in outer space with a thousand Lanterns and all that stuff. It’s a grounded story being told through another lens. It’s an HBO series.
Right before explaining his, he casually joked about asking Ryan Reynolds if he would like to play Green Lantern again. Then, Gunn claimed that he was only joking and he had not actually asked that of Reynolds.
