u/ShubhangBahadur

On one hand, Matt Reeves is absolutely cooking with his Elseworlds corner in ‘The Batman: Part II’. People are evidently very excited about it. He has set the standard for how Gotham itself can feel like a character in its own right, and the gritty, dark portrayal of Batman by Robert Pattinson has deeply resonated with audiences.

Meanwhile, the DCU Batman, who is supposedly coming our way with ‘The Brave and the Bold’, has a rather questionable creative team behind it, including Christina Hodson, the writer of ‘Birds of Prey’ and ‘The Flash’ — two of the worst DC films of all time.

There are also serious concerns about the tone of this movie and this version of Batman. Theenormous success of ‘Joker’ and ‘The Batman’, despite both releasing during the failing DCEU era, shows that people genuinely love dark, gritty, and grounded DC stories, especially those featuring Batman-adjacent characters. If those characters are reduced to goofy caricatures, audiences would be extremely disappointed and disgusted. Especially when compared side-by-side with the Bat-greatness they are getting from the Reevesverse, people would troll the hell out of the DCU Batman, which could once again become a fatal blow to an infant cinematic universe.

The age range of the DCU Batman is another significant concern. Given how polarising the old-ass Hal Jordan casting has already been, having another older actor play the single most pivotal DC character like Batman could be too divisive for the DCU to handle. At least in Hal Jordan’s case, there is a younger John Stewart to balance him out and clearly carry the Green Lantern mantle forward. But that is not the case with Batman, who is already supposed to have Damian Wayne as his fifth Robin when we first meet him in this movie.

All of this, especially when placed side-by-side with the prestige quality of Reeves’ Gotham and its Batman, makes me very worried that the DCU Batman might be heading toward failure and could potentially drag the entire franchise down with him.

The ‘Clayface’ teaser was great, and I genuinely hope that becomes the blueprint for the DCU Batman as well — dark, gritty, gothic. But in all honesty, that movie is co-produced by Matt Reeves, which is precisely why it feels far more compatible with the Reevesverse than with what we have seen so far from the Gunn-led DCU. And we still do not know whether future non-Reeves-produced DCU projects will maintain the same impeccable quality as ‘Clayface’ or lean more toward stereotypical goofy-with-heart projects like ‘Peacemaker’, ‘Creature Commandos’, and ‘Superman’.

Since Gunn has repeatedly spoken about how much he admires Matt Reeves’ work, and considering Reeves is one of the few filmmakers Gunn actively wants involved with the DCU, it does give me some hope that Gunn understands the importance of taking the DCU Batman and Gotham in a direction as impeccably defined by Reeves in ‘The Batman’ and ‘The Penguin’.

1. Creature Commandos (2024)

2. Superman (2025)

3. Peacemaker S2 (2025)

I’m so flustered that, even after five seasons of Daredevil :-

a) We’re still stuck in a Daredevil vs. Kingpin situation, as if there are no worthy members in Daredevil’s rogues’ gallery for the showrunners to draw upon.

b) I had thought the ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ era of Daredevil would be fully integrated into the MCU proper, so why the heck is Marvel Studios so adamant about maintaining a watertight separation between Daredevil and the Avengers characters? Not even the subtle one-line references that were present in the original Netflix show (e.g - “a guy with a magic hammer,” “a man with an iron suit,” etc.).

I would be so mad if ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 3 doesn’t end with the sky turning red, with Matt and co. witnessing chaos erupt as the Multiverse collapses, followed by the final text: “Daredevil will return in ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’.”

I also want this show to conclude after Season 3 and allow Daredevil’s story to continue in films, as part of an ensemble team-up with Spider-Man and/or other street-level heroes, or even the Young Avengers (Ms. Marvel and Kate Bishop). Alternatively, he could serve as a supporting character in other films, or be drawn into a larger game by figures like Valentina, allowing his arc to unfold across the cinematic side rather than being confined to his own series.

This show will sadly fade away once again if the character of Daredevil isn’t brought into the movies for a much larger audience. Given the dismal viewership numbers, it hurts me to say that Marvel could cancel ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ after Season 3, just like how Amazon recently cancelled ‘Gen V‘ after Season 2. Only proper integration into the movies, in whatever capacity, could secure Charlie Cox’s future as Daredevil.

There are far too many newbies who are feeling lost whether to watch the entire MCU and adjacent Marvel projects from Fox and Sony for this purpose. Don't you worry, here's me telling you just the right amount of projects you need to see to enjoy this generational adventure :-

1. Iron Man (2008)

2. Iron Man 2 (2010)

3. Thor (2011)

4. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

5. The Avengers (2012)

6. Captain America: Winter Soldier (2015)

7. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

8. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

9. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

10. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

11. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

12. Black Widow (2021)

13. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

14. WandaVision (2021)

15. Loki (2021-23)

16. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

17. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

18. The Marvels (2023)

19. Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

20. Thunderbolts* (2025)

21. The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

22. X-Men (2000)

Happy Watching ! 🍿

There was so much noise and clutter when the ‘Rama glimpse’ was first released that almost everyone forgot to see and feel the divine, charismatic presence of our aaradhya, Lord Ram, within it.

Ranbir carries such a calm, mystical energy in each frame as Lord Ram; I find myself teary-eyed watching him embody my Lord in his full divine and charismatic glory — especially the scene where King Dasaratha is crowning Ram, a sombre yet emotionally charged moment, given we know what fate has in store for both of them.

Ram is the most epic character in the entire pantheon of Hindu gods — someone each of us should aspire to be like. Seeing him being presented in this manner makes me deeply happy and emotionally euphoric. I wish others, too, could have felt the divine, magnetic screen presence of our Lord, our aaradhya, instead of dissecting trivialities.

I personally think DC really needs to make its big characters like Batman and Wonder Woman work—let them be established as the pillars of this new universe and give fans something to emotionally invest in through their character arcs and dynamics. Then, deliver a Justice League movie that can beautifully bring together characters of contrasting tones (quippy, gritty, R-rated, etc.) to create something truly magical.

Gunn is right to include something as tonally unique and different as Clayface in the DCU. I think we need more such distinct projects and characters (hopefully Batman would be nothing like Superman, except perhaps in age), which could push the boundaries of what can be done with the comic book genre and satisfy the appetite of fans across different tastes.

Marvel is certainly a behemoth, and its universe is now fully stacked with the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man—and fans will undoubtedly enjoy the movies and dynamics of each. But are they offering anything truly unique from one another, or just different shades of the same Marvel quippy formula?

If DC can break the mould created for CBMs by Marvel instead of copying it, I can see DC outclassing Marvel over the next ten years.

1. Supergirl (June 26, 2026)

2. Lanterns (August 16, 2026)

3. Clayface (October 23, 2026)

4. Man of Tomorrow (July 9, 2027)

5. The Batman: Part II (October 1, 2027)

6. DC Crime (2027)

7. Creature Commandos S2 (2027)

I know it’s fashionable nowadays to say that Henry Cavill’s Superman was not “Superman as he is in the comics.” But in ‘MAN OF STEEL’ (2013), he was essentially filled with optimism to lead the people of Earth to a better place, giving them hope to rise to a higher ideal.

However, since that world had not encountered any superpowered beings before, fear and paranoia gripped people when Superman revealed himself. A wave of cynicism and skepticism followed—partly fuelled by Lex Luthor—which ultimately made Henry’s Superman a tragic hero, whose heroism was accepted only after he sacrificed himself while protecting Earth from Doomsday.

Compare this with David Corenswet’s Superman—when we first meet him, he is already beloved by the people of Earth, and even a common street vendor is comfortable with a man possessing such immense power and does not doubt him. It is only when his parents’ full message goes viral that people begin to question him.

I think the difference between the two lies in how each Superman handles public distrust and cynicism surrounding them, particularly in ‘SUPERMAN’ (2025).

But then again, both these Supermen were placed in vastly different worlds—one where there was no known history of encountering metahumans, and another where metahumans have been known and celebrated for over 300 years. So, the difference in their response is quite understandable. But does that make one less of a Superman than the other, as some would argue?

How do we explain this duality? James Gunn has said multiple times that Wonder Woman is not in ‘MAN OF TOMORROW’, yet people (including The Hollywood Reporter and TheWrap) continue to believe Adria Arjona is secretly the DCU Wonder Woman and not Maxima.

Gunn said his next movie is “not a Superman sequel,” but its now-revealed logo is an S-crest fused with a Brainiac symbol.

So why do people keep deluding themselves into believing his denials about “not casting Robert Pattinson as DCU Batman, even as a variant” at face value, when all the real-world evidence—such as the gritty, grounded Reevesverse-esque tone of ‘CLAYFACE’, the similar look and locations in DCU Gotham compared to Matt Reeves’ Gotham, and the lack of significant movement on ‘THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD’, etc.—suggests otherwise?

Moreover, Gunn has now started campaigning for “multiple tones and genres, including dark, gritty, grounded, Reevesverse-esque ‘CLAYFACE’, to coexist within the DCU.”

For comparison, how many times did Kevin Feige deny plans to bring back Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans in the MCU, citing the risk of ruining the beautiful endings of their arcs in ‘AVENGERS: ENDGAME’? Look how that aged. While some might argue their return was inevitable in a multiverse-centric ‘AVENGERS 5’, no one could have predicted that they would be positioned as the two central pillars of the film.

Bigger the stakes, bigger the deception. Feige did it, and Gunn is his protégé.