The Flash Director Andy Muschietti Eyed To Helm New Batman Film, The Brave And The Bold
The DC cinematic universe continues to roll on, and much like a snowball, keeps growing and growing as it continues. The latest development concerns the reception of the upcoming "The Flash" and its director, Andy Muschietti. Despite mixed reactions making their way onto social media, it seems Warner Bros. Discovery as well as co-chairs and co-CEOs of DC Studios, James Gunn and Peter Safran, are mighty happy with how the film has turned out, because Muschietti is the frontrunner to helm the studio's next "Batman" feature, "The Brave and the Bold."
According to Borys Kit and Aaron Couch at The Hollywood Reporter, Muschietti is "a favorite at the studio after the hit 'It' films," and is the "top choice" to helm "The Brave and the Bold." Though there isn't a script for the movie (and there won't be until after the current writer's strike has been resolved), Gunn and Safran have revealed previously that the film will center around the character of Damian Wayne, Batman's biological son who becomes Robin.
Although "The Flash" is the latest blockbuster from WB/DC and they hope to save face after the unfortunate box-office failures of the two most recent DCU movies ("Black Adam" last year and "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" just a few months ago), there may be more than recency bias at work when it comes to Muschietti being the DCU's newest darling.
Can Muschietti handle the Bat-Family?
As Gunn mentioned when announcing "The Brave and the Bold," the movie is to be based on Grant Morrison's run of "Batman" comics from 2006-2012. As is the norm for the avant-garde Morrison, the run encapsulates a large number of incidents, subplots, hallucinations, and wild characters, but one continual element is that of the "Bat-Family," the catch-all term used to refer to not just the various Robins but Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, Dick Grayson/Nightwing, and others. Safran even specifically said earlier this year that the film would "feature other members of the extended Bat-Family just because we feel like they've been left out of the Batman stories in the theater for far too long."
After making some waves with the relatively small supernatural horror movie "Mama," Muschietti made a huge splash thanks to the larger (in scope, size, and budget) adaptations of Stephen King's "It," with "It" and "It Chapter Two." Those films not only involve an ensemble cast of characters, but feature multiple actors playing different versions of those characters, as does "The Flash" with its parade of Flashes, Batmans, and Super-People. If "The Brave and the Bold" is to introduce yet another cinematic Batman to the screen along with featuring the "extended family" of the superhero for the first time, it makes sense why WB/DC would want a director who's very familiar with both those aspects.
Only time will tell if this all comes to pass: as of this writing, "The Flash" is just about to bow into theaters, and the writer's strike is not yet coming to a conclusion, so there's a lot of opportunity for things to change in the future. Still, if Gunn and Safran insist on expanding the DCU in the way they wish, Muschietti might remain their best choice to juggle all those Bat-Folks.