Although James Gunn has a Marvel Cinematic Universe entry Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 coming out in a month and a half, his professional future beyond is centered on DC. In addition to co-leads DC Studios with Peter SafranGunn announced yesterday that he will lead Superman: LegacyA next dc movie he was already writing. However, just before this big news broke, Gunn took the time to debunk a rumor regarding Robert Pattinson’s Batman.
Although the Dusk the star version of the Caped Crusader will not be part of the new DC Universe shared continuity, James Gunn is nevertheless involved in The Batman projects that Matt Reeves directs. The next story in this corner of the DC multiverse is The Penguinthe television series in eight episodes which HBO Max subscribers can stream. Obviously Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot is the show’s lead, but a tweet started going around that although Robert Pattinson might appear as Bruce Wayne, viewers wouldn’t see him dressing up as Batman due to the complicated TV rights surrounding Bruce’s masked character. This led Gunn to debunk this claim on Twitter with the following:
It’s not true.
James Gunn later clarified in another tweet that he was referring to the rights issues being incorrect, not that Robert Pattinson would appear in The Penguin. The original tweet that Gunn replied to used a RBC article as a source, which claimed “Batman’s TV rights are caught in a limbo involving Fox, Disney and a trio of mergers”. Following Gunn’s response, the article was updated to remove “inaccurate information about Batman’s television distribution rights”. Although TV shows like Gotham And Titans featured actors playing Bruce Wayne as a civilian, Bruce dressed as Batman hasn’t been a main character on a live-action television show since the Adam West-directed film Batman series that ran from 1966 to 1968.
Just so we’re all on the same page, there’s no official indication that Robert Pattinson will be appearing in The Penguin, but if he did, James Gunn says rights issues wouldn’t stop the actor from donning the Batsuit. Given that The Penguin takes place a week after the events of The Batman, Gotham City’s shadowy protector would always be a concern as Oswald Cobblepot seeks to expand his criminal empire, but having Pattinson’s Batman as a major player in the story might distract too much from Colin Farrell’s character. I guess if we see Batman in The Penguinit will either be in a cameo capacity or not until the final episode… maybe both!
Among the people who will see alongside Colin Farrell in The Penguin are Crisin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, daughter of the late Carmine Falcone; Michael Zegen as Alberto Falcone, Carmine’s son; And Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maronia mob boss frequently mentioned in The Batman and is responsible for turning Harvey Dent into Two-Face in the comics. James Madio, Scott Cohen, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Deidre O’Connell have been cast in undisclosed roles. All eight episodes were written by Lauren LeFranc.
The Penguin began filming in early March, and once it’s announced when the show will air on HBO Max, we’ll let you know. In the meantime, there are plenty of other upcoming dc tv shows to watch in the years to come. Also, remember that Batman: Part Two is scheduled for October 3, 2025.