Director Matt Reeves’ The Batman may not begin production until summer 2019, following DC Films’ Birds of Prey and The Flash.
Set to be the first Batman standalone film in Warner Bros.’ so-called DC Extended Universe, The Batman has experienced a bumpy development, with Ben Affleck departing in January 2017 as director, and replaced by Reeves (Planet of the Apes). Since then, the project has been plagued by rumors that Affleck is ready to hang up his cape and cowl.
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Although The Batman had been expected to begin filming in spring 2019, TheWrap’s Umberto Gonzalez tweeted on Thursday, “Kind of hard to go into preproduction when there is still no script yet.” He continued, “MAYBE goes into preproduction by end of the year for a June 19′ or later shoot. Birds of Prey & The Flash will go first.”
With a recent flurry of activity surrounding Birds of Prey and plenty of rumors about casting, it makes sense for the movie leapfrog ahead of The Batman. However, The Flash has been quiet since a report in March that it will start filming in February 2019. That said, The Flash now has a strong team behind the camera and already has its star, Ezra Miller, in place.
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Reeves recently teased he was close to completing his draft of the script, so it’s unclear why The Batman would be pushed back. If this latest report is to be believed, the Caped Crusader likely wouldn’t return to theaters until at least 2020.
If that’s indeed the case, the upcoming DCEU slate looks something like this: Aquaman, Shazam!, Wonder Woman 1984, Birds of Prey, The Flash and then The Batman.