DC should move away from Batman in movies for a while

It’s time for Batman to move away from movies for a while.

Since 1989 we’ve had nine Batman movies. During that, we’ve had five different actors playing Batman: Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, and Ben Affleck. Now, Matt Reeves announced there will be a new Batman project.

The Batman will hit theaters June 25, 2021, and without Ben Affleck who was the most recent actor to play Batman. Some people are excited to have concrete news about a new Batman. Especially with all of the questions leading up to this. With Affleck being out and with so many changes along the way, it seems like it may be time to move away from a Caped Crusader film. This goes for the animated features as well.

Batman is one of the most popular characters in comics. People will flock to the movies to see him. One thing that has been a worry is viewer fatigue. While it doesn’t seem to be an issue now, it will be if the franchise keeps changing. In this case, there have been too many actor switches in a short time.

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy was only seven years. That means within 10 years, three different actors will have played one character.

Nolan’s version was a success. Despite Affleck amazing portrayal, the movies aren’t revered well, and he’s now out. Too many different versions of the character and eventually people will stop caring. There’s no reason for fans to get invested in a franchise if it’s going to be stopped abruptly.

The animated cartoons have been the most consistent projects in DC Comics (well, except The Killing Joke). The animated features aren’t restrained with a special effect budget. Because of this, the movies can go places and do things that couldn’t happen in the movies.

For example, Batman: Assault on Arkham was phenomenal. It was everything that the Suicide Squad movie should have been. Justice League Dark was another movie that was absolutely amazing. Both movies have something in common. They both starred Batman. Having him as the focal point didn’t give the lesser-known characters a chance to shine. Without this, you’re stuck using him for everything instead of highlighting the vast amounts of characters in their repertoire.

Nightwing #52 (Credit: DC Comics)

Neither of those movies needed Batman to be great features. It may bring people in to watch them, but this is becoming a clutch. The DC Comics Universe has an abundance of characters to choose from. Wonder Woman, Booster Gold, John Stewart, and Plastic Man, are some of the characters that could hold their own in a DC Comics feature or be the known character around a lesser-known group. If the Bat-brand has to be used, Batwoman, Damian Wayne, Red Hood, and Tim Drake are options as well. Dick Grayson is an incredibly popular character that gets forgotten and he was one of the original Bat Family characters.

Batman will always be one of the greatest characters in any comic book genre. Even without superpowers, he finds a way to one of the most feared and vicious fighters and always has a plan to win. This doesn’t mean he needs to be everywhere. It’s time to cut the cord and move on for a while. The CW shows (Arrow, Flash, and Black Lightning), Wonder Woman and Aquaman have all been successful without him. Gotham also went five seasons without seeing the Dark Knight once. This is more than enough proof that DC Comics has enough to be successful without the Bat-Crutch. The Batman Beyond project, if it happens, is a great step in the right direction. It may still be Batman, but not Bruce Wayne or the Bats we’re used to seeing.