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Batman is core to James Gunn's new DCU, even without the cape and cowl

Gunn recently sat down to discuss the power of Wayne Enterprises as it related to corporations like Lex Luthor's Luthor Corp (as seen in Superman) and Maxwell Lord's Lord Tech (as seen in Peacemaker)

Where does Batman fit into the new DCU?

That's a question that folks have been asking ever since James Gunn and Peter Safran's new cinematic universe was announced. Sure, we know that the Caped Crusader is going to star in a new movie - Batman: Brave and the Bold - but we don't know what his status will be as a member of the superhero community established in this summer's Superman. However, a recent interview with Gunn himself shed some light on the place of Batman in this expansive new world...

Or rather, the place of his alter ego: Bruce Wayne.

Gunn recently sat down with Interview Magazine for a chat that was published August 19. During the chat, interviewer Rainn Wilson (yep, that Rainn Wilson) asked Gunn about the societal particulars of the DCU, and Gunn told him about how power works in that universe.

"We’re reaching a point in the DCU," said Gunn, "Where there’s three factions. There’s the Metahumans, the governments, and then the corporations. And the corporations are equally important. There’s Luthor Corp, there’s Lord Tech and Stagg Industries and Wayne Enterprises, which are the four big companies that are vying for another type of domination."

2025's Superman has already shown us how these major corporations are messing about with metahumans' role in the world - both Stagg Industries and Luthor Corp play a big role in the events of that film. So is Gunn saying that Batman's alter ego will also be involved in superhuman investigation and instruction? It's possible, although the guy at the head of Wayne Enterprises is presumably a more morally scrupulous type than his competitors.

Whatever the particulars are, it's interesting to note that Wayne Enterprises will be on the level of these other world powers in the new DCU, and that Batman's role in that world will stretch beyond what he does fighting crime on the streets of Gotham. Who knows - with an enemy like Lex Luthor, Superman might find a more valuable ally in Bruce Wayne than in the Dark Knight.

Superman is in theaters now.


Grant DeArmitt

Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.

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