Draft:The Brave and the Bold (film)

The Brave and the Bold is an upcoming American superhero film based on DC Comics featuring the characters Batman and Robin. Produced by DC Studios and Double Dream, and set to be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it will be a film in the DC Universe (DCU) and a reboot of the Batman film series. The film will be directed by Andy Muschietti.

Development on a standalone Batman film set in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) began by October 2014, with Ben Affleck expected to direct and star. After Affleck left in January 2019, the project was reworked into Matt Reeves's The Batman (2022) starring Robert Pattinson which launched its own shared universe. When James Gunn and Peter Safran became co-CEOs of DC Studios they began work on a new version of Batman, separate from both Affleck and Pattinson, for the DCU. Based on Grant Morrison's run on the Batman comics (2006–2013) it explores the "Bat-Family" for the first time in live-action films since Batman & Robin (1997), including introducing Batman's son Damian Wayne as a version of Robin. Muschietti joined as director in June 2023.

The Brave and the Bold will be released theatrically in the United States. It will be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.

Cast

 * Bruce Wayne / Batman: A businessman and socialite in Gotham City who moonlights as a masked vigilante
 * Damian Wayne / Robin: Bruce's son who was secretly trained as an assassin for the first eight to ten years of his life

Background
Ben Affleck was cast as Bruce Wayne / Batman in August 2013, to appear in multiple films set in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). He made his debut in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), before appearing in Suicide Squad (2016) and Justice League (2017). In October 2014, Warner Bros. revealed plans for a standalone Batman film starring Affleck, and he was in negotiations to direct and co-write the film by July 2015. In January 2017, Affleck said he was stepping down as director of the film, and he was replaced by Matt Reeves. By the end of the year, the film had been reworked into The Batman (2022) which is separate from the DCEU. Robert Pattinson was cast for the film as a younger version of Batman, and Reeves began planning his own Batman-focused shared universe that included a film trilogy and several spin-off series.

Discovery Inc. and Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia merged in April 2022 to become Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), led by president and CEO David Zaslav. The new company was expected to restructure DC Entertainment and Zaslav began searching for an equivalent to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to lead the new subsidiary. Writer/director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran were announced as the co-chairs and co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios at the end of October 2022. A week after starting their new roles, the pair had begun developing an eight-to-ten-year plan for a new DC Universe (DCU) that would be a "soft reboot" of the DCEU. Zaslav said of the new plan, "There's not going to be four Batmans". Affleck was confirmed to not be reprising his role moving forward, but there was potential for him to direct a DCU project.

Development
In December 2022, Gunn said Batman would be "a big part of the DCU", and he debunked reports that Pattinson's version of the character would be integrated with the DCU. The next month, Reeves said he was meeting with Gunn and Safran to discuss how they could avoid their plans clashing. On January 31, Gunn and Safran unveiled the first projects from their DCU slate, which begins with Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. One of the films in that chapter introduces the DCU version of Batman and is titled The Brave and the Bold. Reeves's version of Batman was expected to continue outside of the DCU continuity under the DC Elseworlds label. Gunn and Safran said The Brave and the Bold would explore members of the "Bat-Family" for the first time on film since Batman & Robin (1997), including introducing Batman's son Damian Wayne as a version of Robin. Gunn said the film would be a "strange father and son story" about Batman and Robin based on Grant Morrison's 2006 to 2013 run on the comics. Morrison's comics appeared on Amazon's list of best-selling comic books the next day.

Andy Muschietti was the studio's top choice to direct the film by June. He previously directed the DCEU film The Flash (2023), which featured Affleck and Michael Keaton's respective versions of Batman. Muschietti would reportedly not formally commit to the film until a script materialized after the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike concluded. However, Muschietti was confirmed as the director ahead of The Flash release later that month, with his sister Barbara set to produce through their production company Double Dream alongside Gunn and Safran. The Flash writer Christina Hodson, who is also a member of the DCU's writer's room, was eyed to write the film but chose to work on Fast XI (2026) instead. The Muschiettis were developing the film by March 2024, at which point they had not yet decided which film they would commit to next.

Release
The Brave and the Bold is scheduled to be released theatrically by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States. It will be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.