Yesterday, we reported that The Hangover director Todd Phillips was in talks to direct and co-write a Batman spin-off movie about the Joker, with Martin Scorsese set to produce for some reason. The plan is for that movie to be a Joker origin story, but one that’s wholly separated from any existing cinematic Joker—including the one Jared Leto played in Suicide Squad—thereby making it a standalone movie that is not connected to the existing DC movie universe. Now, it’s starting to look like Matt Reeves’ The Batman might be doing the same thing.
This comes from Entertainment Weekly, but it turns out that Reeves was actually talking about The Batman’s place in the DC Extended Universe back in July. In an interview with KCRW, Reeves said that Warner Bros. specifically approached him about making a “standalone” movie that is “not part of the extended universe.” Nobody seemed to realize what he was saying with that comment at the time, but in light of the Joker spin-off news, it seems pretty clear that The Batman isn’t really intended to exist as a prequel or sequel to Ben Affleck’s appearances as the Caped Crusader in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Justice League.