When I left James Gunn’s Superman, I knew one thing for sure: there was no way Robert Pattinson’s Batman was showing up in this universe. So, what does a Batman look like in this new world? To my surprise, especially after Superman, I didn’t think this was as hard a puzzle to solve as I originally thought. To be clear, I’m not saying my idea is good; honestly, it might be terrible. But if you’re someone who loves the characters and world of Batman, fitting him inside this universe isn’t difficult. In fact, when Gunn talks about the struggles he’s dealt with trying to nail down the script, I think it’s that the character can go in so many fun directions, and he’s only going to get one shot at it. It would be like if someone told you to order a pie, but whatever pie you ordered was the only flavor of pie you could have for the rest of your life…

I feel like I’ve gotten off point.

Here’s my pitch for Batman.

(Side note: Sweet potato is the correct answer. It’s the only pie flavor you can’t put into a cake.)

My Four Sons

When it comes to putting Batman in the DCU, the toughest part of the process is figuring out what to do with Robin, or in this case, Robins. If Gunn’s description of Batman: Brave and the Bold stays true, then we’ll see Batman with his son, Damian. This makes things difficult because if you want to stay true to the comics, then that means the movie will be starting with Batman’s fourth Robin.

I’ve seen people say this can’t be done, that it would make Batman too old. That to make it work, you’d have to do something crazy like erase Jason Todd. Well, I did the Bat math, and anyone suggesting these things hasn’t tried hard enough. It all works. Every bit of it.

Here is the basic timeline of Batman and his boy wonders.

• Bruce’s year one as Batman is at the age of 22
• When he’s 24, he takes in a 12-year-old Dick Grayson.
• Dick is Robin for 7 years before he leaves to become Nightwing.
• Shortly after this happens, Jason Todd becomes the new Robin. Batman is around 30 years old.
• 3 years into being Robin, Jason is tragically killed.
• After discovering their true identities through impressive detective work, a young Tim Drake convinces Batman to let him take on the mantle of Robin. At this point, Batman is around 34.
• Tim is Robin for 5 years before maturing out of the role and moving on to become the Red Robin and continuing his work with the Teen Titans.

After all of this, at the oldest, Batman is 40 years old. If you tweak the starting age and timeline a little bit, you can easily get Bruce down to 38. That’s not that much older than David Cornsweat’s Superman. And just like that, Batman has all his Robins and he’s peers with Superman. None of this old Batman crap.

With all of that figured out, the focus moves on to Damian. This is where Gunn’s Superman helped me make the most sense out of this. Admittedly, my biggest complaint about the film is Krypto. I know. I’m sorry. But the character got me thinking. What if you gave Batman his own Krypto-like character, but instead of a bad dog that seemingly can’t be fixed, what if it was a bad kid who can actually grow and eventually mature through the love of a family?

Before I get too involved in the plot of the film, though, I guess I should back up and put focus on the actual main character of the movie, Batman. Without knowing what’s in Matt Reeves’ upcoming The Batman 2, I think it’s important to try to create significant differences between the two characters. Introducing the Robins will certainly help, but I think the story differences should be even more significant. This is why I’m proposing that the DCU’s Batman no longer have an Alfred. Yeah, I hate to say it, but Alfred is dead. Bruce has been the Caped Crusader for nearly 2 decades. As much as I think Alfred is a great character, Batman having to deal with issues on his own, or at least without a proper father figure, would be an interesting dynamic for the character. At some point in everyone’s life, they become the adult in the room. Who are they supposed to turn to when they have a question about life? Batman presents himself as a man with all the answers, but we’ve seen countless times that he’s constantly turning towards Alfred for advice. What does it look like when that advice is suddenly gone?

So we’re on the same page, let’s go back over everything one last time. At the start of the DCU’s Batman movie, he’s in his late 30s, there have been three Robins, Alfred Pennyworth has sadly passed away (maybe from MacGregor’s Syndrome, who can say?), and most importantly, this Batman is slightly smaller than Superman. This idea of casting some yolked-up tank like Alan Michael Ritchson is silly. What makes Batman and his crew so special is that at the end of the day, they’re all just regular people doing extraordinary things. I think Matt Reeves nailed it by casting someone like Robert Pattinson, and I really hope that continues in the DCU.

The Pitch

I’ve gone back and forth on how I’ve wanted to do this. Do I write an actual outline of the entire story? Do I just throw out some of the biggest moments? Ultimately, I think it’s a little bit of column A and column B. First off, let’s introduce our main characters.

I know, I know. Ra’s and Talia al Ghul? Who am I, Christopher Nolan? Just hear me out for one second. I think starting with The League of Assassins is important. Yes, that’s obviously where Damian comes from with Talia being his mother, but more importantly, starting with the League helps us introduce the Lazarus Pit as quickly as possible. Why is this important? Because I’ll be damned if I get one opportunity to set up a true-to-comics Batman universe and I leave out Jason Todd. Do you think this is the only Batman movie the DCU plans on making? Get ready, folks! 2032, Batman: Under the Red Hood. We’re bringing Jason Todd back from the dead, and you can’t do that without the Lazarus Pit.

But the Lazarus Pit is just a small part of the film. A detail sprinkled in for future use. It’s time to focus on more important things. What’s the central conflict? Honestly, I think keeping this movie as a father/son film is the best direction to go.

Damian is a young kid who thinks he’s invincible and knows everything. He might be Batman’s sidekick, but in his mind, he’s more capable in a fight at his age than any of the Robins ever were. If anything, Batman is holding him back. He should be put in more danger, not less.

Meanwhile, for Batman, despite his son having been trained by literally the world’s greatest assassins, he’s scared. His past mistakes with the previous Robins make him overly cautious with Damian. Rather than having Damian learn in the field, much of his training takes place back at Wayne Manor.

The goal of the story needs to be about bringing these two together and helping them find common ground. Neither one of them really knows how to be a son or a father, but maybe if they actually work together, they can figure it out. I know, it sounds cheesy, but there will be plenty of opportunity for people to get punched in the face throughout the story.

So now that we’ve established the villains and the themes of the movie, I’d like to lay out a couple of moments I have locked in my head that I’d definitely want to see.

Must Have Moments

1. I think the introduction of Damian, even if every idea I throw out never happens, is a lock. Batman, prowling the rooftops of Gotham, looking for crime to punch in the neck, comes across something weird. Maybe it’s a person tied up. Maybe it’s a three-course meal. The point is, he finds something odd and starts to investigate it. While performing the investigation, though, a pint-sized assassin appears from the shadows, sword in hand, and attacks Batman. Thankfully, for the sake of the movie, Batman recognizes he’s been set up and dodges the attack. The two have a fun fight on the roof, think Aria and Brienne from Game of Thrones combined with that awesome rooftop fight between Leonardo and Raphael from the 2007 TMNT movie. Eventually, though, Batman overwhelms the assassin only to learn the tough fight came by way of a child.
2. With no Alfred, who does Batman turn to for advice? Why not the boys? Out of costume, I want… actually, no, I demand a scene where Bruce talks to Dick and Tim about what he should do with Damian. This is the moment where we, the audience, can learn about Jason’s death and how Batman is still struggling to deal with it. Even after having Tim as Robin for all those years, he’s still never fully recovered. On top of that, Batman can discuss how being a father figure for Tim was easy because, let’s face it, Tim Drake is awesome. Bruce has only known Damian for a couple of weeks, and he already knows he’s got his hands full. Remember, think Krypto.
3. Like Superman, Batman’s first DCU movie is going to show audiences that Batman’s Gotham is full of already established villains. Whether it’s a montage or just one big action scene, I want Batman and Robin taking down bad guys. Obviously, you don’t want to waste a major villain like Mr. Freeze or Two-Face, but I see no reason why Batman and Robin can’t have a rumble with Killer Croc, or if you really want to make sure audiences understand just how fantastical this world is, Man-Bat.
4. Because this is probably the only chance I’ll have, I’d really like to see a moment where Damian has left Batman to go fight crime on his own. It’s that cliché but important moment where our two heroes have a fight and “break up.” While patrolling the streets of Gotham, we see Damian kicking the crap out of The Mad Hatter. I always thought DC/WB wasted a great opportunity by not having him be the baddy in Birds of Prey, so let’s just throw him in here for fun.
5. Near the finale of the movie, Batman, because he’s still wrestling with being overprotective of Damian, actually gets captured by the League of Shadows. A rare mistake by the veteran Batman. I mention all of this because this is my most Must-Have Moment. All. Three. Boy. Wonders. Together. I’m talking, Nightwing, Red Robin, and Robin side by side, taking down members of the League of Assassins together.
6. For the two of you who read this, don’t worry about Batman. When our three heroes follow Batman’s tracker to the room he’s being held in, we actually get a lighthearted moment where just before the boys burst into the room to save Bruce, a League of Assassins member is punched through the door. Damian is upset that Batman technically still saved himself. He might have gotten himself captured, but it’s not like he was going to stay that way. After all, he is Batman.
7. I was going to stop there, but I realized I’ve kind of set the movie up a little bit like Into the Spiderverse. Before the audience realizes that Red Robin and Nightwing are going to help Damian take down the League, I have this “What’s Up Danger” type moment playing in my head, where it seemsl ike Damian is going to try and do it all on his own. Back at the Batcave, he discovers the new Robin suit that Batman made for him, and then we see him making his way through the neon light-soaked streets of Gotham City on his motorcycle. It’s cool shit!

In Conclusion

I would describe myself as a humble man. I know when it’s time to laugh at myself. I once wrote an entire article for Marvel’s Fantastic Four that focused on a theory that Reed Richards would be powerless for most of the movie and that a central character to the film would be The Red Ghost, played by John Malkovich. Well, I’m pretty sure I saw Mr. Fantastic show off his stretching abilities in the opening credits, and they actually cut Malkovich from the film entirely. Admittedly, it was a bit of a joke article, but I still couldn’t have been more wrong. I say all of this to state the simple fact that I’ve absolutely crushed this Batman pitch. I’m not saying that it’s this or nothing. I’m not suggesting that whatever Gunn and his team are working on won’t be amazing, but what I am saying is that I’ve written a banger.

I was worried I couldn’t do it when I first sat down and started planning all of this out, but now that we’re at the end of the journey… home run. Write the check!

Also, I wrote this entire thing and then realized I never connected Batman to the DCU… whoops. Um.
Hm….
We can just have a scene where Bruce Wayne has to take a meeting with Max Lord. There. Happy?!