In news that’s really not “new,” the ‘Nightwing’ movie has been put on hold, due to Matt Reeves’ upcoming ‘The Batman’. Yeah, no kidding. Just for the record, a ‘Nightwing’ movie was in the works, with Chris McKay set to direct, until sometime last year, but as ‘The Batman’ took shape, it became clear that Warner Brothers wasn’t sure what to do with the Batman portion of its film universe, which was once its ONLY segment of anything resembling a DC Universe in the films. But now it seems as though it is rebooting ‘Batman’ as a stand-alone series.
‘The Batman’ is set during the early days of Bruce Wayne’s crime-fighting career, but we’ve kind of been operating under the notion that somehow this was still going to be the same Batman that Ben Affleck played in the “present.” But now with additional casting taking place– specifically Jeffrey Wright in talks to play Commissioner Gordon– that seems less likely, as we’ve already seen a Commissioner Gordon in the main DC film universe, and he was played by J.K. Simmons. So now it appears that ‘The Batman’ is setting up its own separate continuity.
RELATED: Chris McKay Says It Will Be A While Before ‘Nightwing’ Arrives, But It Is Still Coming
Warner Brothers has had a ‘Batgirl’ movie in the works for a couple of years now. That was expected to be part of the larger DC Cinematic Universe as well, but now, in a report from Forbes, it looks as though it will likely be worked into this new Bat-Verse.
It also states that the ‘Nightwing’ movie has been shelved as Reeves wants to use Dick Grayson in “one of ” his movies. Yes, that implies that Reeves plans to direct numerous ‘Batman’ films. Of course, the studio will probably wait and see how well the first does before making any firm plans for the future. (After all, WB has made some… missteps with its DC movies.)
The report states that Reeves will most likely tell Dick Grayson’s origin, showing him adopting the identity of Robin. There are rumors that Dick could show up as early as ‘The Batman’, but even so, it would be YEARS before the character was ready to graduate from that identity to become Nightwing. By that point, it’s doubtful that whatever McKay had planned would still be valid. It’s also doubtful that McKay would still be interested, but you never know. He is a big fan of the character, after all.
Reeves’ ‘The Batman’ is scheduled to arrive in theaters on June 25, 2021, so production is expected to begin soon, possibly before the year is up. So far, Robert Pattinson is the only star confirmed, but Wright and Jonah Hill are said to be in final negotiations.
Do you still want to see a separate ‘Nightwing’ movie?
