Following the announcement of a Martin Scorsese-produced, 80s-set Joker origin story, more Batman related news continues to come our way, this time to do with Matt Reeves‘ The Batman, which the director stated will be a standalone film, and not part of the DC Extended Universe.
Reeves told Los Angeles radio station KCRW: “Well, I have a vision for a way to do something with that character that feels like it resonates with me personally, and a perspective that can grow out into other things. When they [Warner Bros.] approached me, what they said was ‘look, it’s a standalone, it’s not part of the extended universe”.
So, this is very interesting. With the Joker origin story also set outside the DCEU canon, Warner Bros. is taking a step away from the established ideas of extended universes popularised by the MCU, where every character and film exists within the same world and can interact with one another.
Instead, continuity doesn’t need to be an issue for every DC film, potentially allowing for unique and interesting projects such as the aforementioned gritty, Scorsese-esque Joker story alongside a second, modern day Joker story revolving around a totally different incarnation of the character, with no need to connect the threads of both films.
The MCU has been criticised in the past for their films resembling one another in character beats, plot progressions and aesthetic, making their whole universe a homogenous batch of easily consumable popcorn movies. While DC hasn’t exactly gotten the greatest critical response to their films thus far, it is arguably the extended universe more willing to take risks and think outside the box.
This new idea of alternate versions and histories of characters may rub some fans the wrong way, but does everyone really want an MCU 2.0 from DC?
If this new direction gives the studio more freedom to create interesting stories outside the traditional canon, and continue to attract filmmakers such as Zack Snyder, Todd Phillips and (fingers crossed he eventually sits in the directors chair) Martin Scorsese, that can’t be a bad thing.
The unofficial ‘phase one’ of the DCEU ends when Justice League arrives in cinemas on Friday, November 17. Hopefully it’s just the beginning of an exciting new direction for DC.
#Peace.Love.TheBatman
