James Gunn hints DCU’s Batman could do something “we’ve never seen”

James Gunn has revealed his favorite Batman comic from his childhood – and it could be a big tease for what to expect from the DCU’s caped crusader.

Excluding his brief silhouetted appearance in Creature Commandos, we’ve yet to meet the DCU’s version of Batman. There’s a chance he could make a cameo in Clayface, but he’s planned to debut in The Brave and the Bold (separate from Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson’s universe).

So, what kind of Batman will he be? Will he be goofy and cartoonish, like Adam West? Will he be a brooding, brutal detective, like Pattinson? Will he be a high-tech playboy, like Christian Bale?

Gunn has been very careful about anything he says regarding the Dark Knight’s future in the franchise, but he may have just given us a hint about what shape he’ll take.

James Gunn’s favorite Batman comic could be a DCU tease

While speaking to Tom Segura on the 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast, Gunn revealed his favorite Batman comic: 1970’s #227, written by Dennis O’Neil and featuring a cover designed by Neal Adams.

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It is an overt supernatural story, following Batman as he tries to find Daphne Pennyworth and ends up at a haunted mansion. The movies have dabbled in fantastical elements (some more than others, like Batman Forever), but nothing like this comic.

“I think that’s one of the fun things about Batman though, is that there are so many expressions of Batman that are cool, and [having] different ways to access that character is one of the ways in which he’s so iconic,” Gunn explained.

“My experience with Batman too, as a kid… was reading those early ’70s Neal Adams Batman comics that were much darker and grittier, and I was like, ‘Oh, I like this Batman.’ I had seen the sillier Batman on TV, and I’m like, ‘Oh this is gritty, cool Batman.’ And that was the thing that I really like, that version of Batman, which was kind of a Batman that we’d never seen.”

When Segura brought the cover of #277 up on the screen, Gunn said, “That was my favorite story. That was in a compilation of Batman comics that I read, and I just thought it was the greatest ever. It was Batman – supernatural Batman, too, which is something we’ve never seen. Batman in a sort of supernatural environment.”

Does that mean we could see supernatural elements with the DCU Batman? Possibly, whether it’s the franchise’s take on Ra’s al Ghul or another character from the rogues’ gallery.

For now, Gunn added that they have a “really, really good story now for what’s happening with Batman.”

Or… they could merge Robert Pattinson’s Batman with the DCU.