James Gunn Offers Promising THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD Update Saying They Have “A Really Good Story”
When it comes to the future of Batman in the new DC Universe, fans have been waiting for James Gunn to finally spill something concrete. Until now, he’s kept things pretty vague. But, Gunn just dropped the most promising update yet about The Brave and the Bold, and it sounds like he’s really excited about the story he and his team are building.
On the 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast, Gunn gave a surprisingly direct tease:
“I think we have a really, really good story now for what's happening with Batman.”
But he didn’t stop there. Host Tom Segura pressed him on whether we’ll finally get a more colorful Batman suit in the DCU, moving away from the all-black or black-and-grey armor that’s defined most modern live-action versions.
Gunn acknowledged the debates that fans obsess over, but made it clear that, for him, the focus will always be the storytelling:
“There's a religious aspect to some of this stuff that's very uncomfortable. Should Batman have white eyes? That's a big subject of conversation. It's like, 'Guys, that's really what matters?' But those are the things they care about.
“Should his utility belt be yellow? Should he have the yellow crest around the bat? All of that sort of stuff. None of those things are what's most important to me. What matters is the character, the story.”
That doesn’t mean Gunn isn’t open to exploring different flavors of the Dark Knight. In fact, he celebrated the many faces of Batman fans have loved over the decades:
“I think that's one of the fun things about Batman though, is that there are so many expressions of Batman that are cool, and [having] different ways to access that character is one of the ways in which he's so iconic.
“I don't think it's a matter of the blue and the grey or the black Batman. I think both those things are really cool. I like the detective Batman, but I also really like the fighter Batman, that's just the brute that's, you know, fighting.
“I like the silly '50s Silver Age Batman, with Bat-Mite. I like all of these different versions of Batman.”
When it comes to his personal taste, Gunn revealed that his love of Batman really clicked when he discovered the darker, supernatural take from the early 1970s, particularly Batman #225 by Dennis O’Neil and Irv Novick, with a classic cover by Neal Adams.
“My experience with Batman too, as a kid…was reading those early '70s Neal Adams Batman comics that were much darker and grittier, and I was like, 'Oh, I like this Batman.'
“I had seen the sillier Batman on TV, and I'm like, 'Oh this is gritty, cool Batman.' And that was the thing that I really like, that version of Batman, which was kind of a Batman that we'd never seen.”
“That was my favorite story. That was in a compilation of Batman comics that I read, and I just thought it was the greatest ever. It was Batman - supernatural Batman, too, which is something we've never seen. Batman in a sort of supernatural environment.”
That era of O’Neil and Adams was game-changing for Batman, pulling him out of the campy Silver Age and grounding him in gothic crime stories while also introducing Ra’s al Ghul and his daughter Talia.
With The Brave and the Bold set to explore Batman’s complicated relationship with Damian Wayne, his son with Talia, it feels very possible that Ra’s and the Lazarus Pit will play a role in this new story.
For now, The Brave and the Bold doesn’t have a release date, but Gunn’s enthusiasm and clear direction for the character should give fans a lot of confidence. If he really is pulling from that darker O’Neil and Adams material, then the DCU’s Batman could be one of the most exciting takes we’ve seen in years.