James Gunn's third DCU film builds Gotham without showing the Bat. The Brave and the Bold still has no date, but the pieces are moving.
Clayface is out. The third film in James Gunn's DCU — after Superman and Supergirl, is an R-rated, body-horror origin story for a Batman villain that never shows Batman. It holds 75 percent from critics and 92 percent from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie works.
It also leaves the DCU's biggest question exactly where it was: when do we actually see the new Dark Knight?<br><br>Peter Safran told Collider the Caped Crusader is active during Clayface's events. “Batman is there. This is the introduction to the live-action Gotham,” he said. A silhouette appeared in Creature Commandos.
Lanterns drops a line about a “Bat guy over in Gotham” with a beacon in the middle of town. Kerry Kane, Kelly Macdonald's character, carries the Kane surname. The Wayne Community Center sits in the frame. Gotham feels grimy, divided, corrupt.
Jim Gordon is absent but the GCPD is painted crooked save for Max Minghella's John Borrelli. Joker breadcrumbs litter the margins: Amusement Mile, a “One Bad Day” nod, Hagen's forced Glasgow smile.<br><br>By the final frame Clayface is fully monstrous, psyche fractured, body count stacked. Caitlyn has told police everything. The stage is set for a future showdown.<br><br>That future has a title: The Brave and the Bold.
Grant Morrison's run is the blueprint. Damian Wayne, Bruce's preteen son with Talia al Ghul, will feature. That alone implies a Batman who has been at it for years. Morrison's Bruce was a veteran with a roster of sidekicks.
If the film follows that logic, the DCU Batman is closer to middle age than Year One.<br><br>No release date. Gunn and Safran have only said it arrives after Matt Reeves' The Batman, Part II, currently dated 18 February 2028. Robert Pattinson's noir detective and the DCU's comics-inspired, family-friendlier version will coexist in live-action for at least a couple of years.
Whether Reeves' saga ends there or continues is an open question.<br><br>For now the DCU Batman remains a silhouette, a line of dialogue, a community centre sign. Clayface handed Gotham to the audience. The Bat still hasn't stepped into the light.
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