Batman: The Brave and the Bold’s Director Can Still Work Out

Highlights

• The Brave and the Bold film focuses on Batman teaming up with his son Damian Wayne, bringing a different Bat-dynamic to the big screen.
• Andy Muschietti has the experience of shaping ensembles, comedy and horror that can set up the Bat-family for the DCU.
• While he carries the can for The Flash’s failings, Muschietti proved himself by getting the Scarlet Speedster to the screen at all and the experience could bode well for his new DCU movie.

The arrival of the DC Universe means there’s a new Batman in town. James Gunn and Peter Safran didn’t wait to announce that the Dark Knight was joining their rebooted shared universe based on DC Comics. This version promises to be different from any previous incarnation seen in movie theaters, as Batman’s versatility proves he’s an essential cog in the DCU. That’s not just because he remains one of the most bankable comic book stars on film ($6.8 billion at the global box office and counting). Being a non-superpowered top-tier hero, stacked with great gadgets and one of the greatest galleries of rogues in comics, is a big help. But Batman’s real power is his ability to fit into any genre that comes his way.

From the colorful 60s version to the brutalized older Bruce Wayne of the DCEU, the Caped Crusader is many things to many people. No wonder the DCU is keen to reveal a Batman closer to the comic book persona that can sit parallel to Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne in The Batman. The Brave and the Bold will likely serve up an older Batman at the peak of his career, able to flit between patrolling the alleys of Gotham and strategizing wars on distant planets.

Despite leaving Ben Affleck’s Batman behind, the DCU film will also have one massive link to the former DCEU in director Andy Muschietti. Fans may pause at the thought of 2023’s The Flash, which managed to pack in two Dark Knights if not three. But there are compelling reasons why that film’s director is a great choice to helm the next chapter in the Caped Crusader’s celluloid adventures.

What Is The Brave And The Bold About?

The new Batman film takes its name from the classic (and recently reintroduced) imprint The Brave and the Bold. Since 1955, that DC series has specialized in team-ups, and for most of its existence, specifically pairing the Dark Knight with characters from the wider DC Universe. Naturally, the new film is a team-up, but one that draws from a 2006 storyline that turned Batman’s life upside down. Legendary comic creator Grant Morrison’s Batman and Son connected Batman with the son he never knew he had, Damian Wayne.

Grant Morrison started their legendary run on Batman comics by confirming the throwaway 1987 graphic novel Batman: Son of the Demon in canon, and with it, Damian as the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. As the film brings father and son to the screen (following a 2014 animated adaptation, Son of Batman), hopes are high that it can tap into the compelling dynamics behind the comic storyline.

Damian is the son of Gotham’s guardian and the grandson of Ra’s al Ghul, head of the League of Assassins. When his mother lands the pre-teen on his unsuspecting father, the assassin-trained assassin opposes Batman’s vow not to kill. Cue a dysfunctional dynamic as Damian contends with the various Robins of the Bat-family and his role as heir to Batman and the al Ghuls. The Brave and the Bold is a chance to see Batman as a team player on the big screen, as it introduces one of the most entertaining characters in Modern Age DC comics in Damian.

Why Is the Brave And The Bold A Great Fit For Andy Muschietti?

If The Brave and the Bold closely follows its comic book inspiration, it’ll combine its dysfunctional family story with comedy and horror. After all, Morrison’s run began with an assault by, to quote Batman, “Man-Bats. Ninja Man-Bats. Alarming twist.”

In all, it’s an excellent fit for Muschietti. There’s a compelling reason the director holds a lot of weight at Warner Bros., or two reasons: IT and IT: Chapter 2. He managed the impossible with his two-part Stephen King adaptation, delivering a nearly $1.2 billion gross for the studio from the 1986 novel. Muschietti’s range helped the two R-rated horror films to their impressive takes, which makes him a wise choice to take one of DC’s most prized properties in an exciting new era.

Having made his name with the 2013 horror Mama, Muschietti skillfully blended the layers and themes of It to audience approval. At its heart were two well-cast ensembles. The characters contended with a mix of comedy and horror as kids and adults. It overcame an iconic 1990 TV adaptation to become the most successful Stephen King adaptation and the horror blockbuster to beat. It’s even spawning a prequel series, Welcome to Derry, which Muschietti is executive-producing and part-directing.

That success bodes well for The Brave and the Bold, but among Muschietti’s work in crafting horror and character pieces (His take on Attack on Titan is in development), The Flash sits awkwardly on his resume. There’s been speculation that the decision to put him in charge of The Brave and the Bold after his previous DC film bombed was premature at best.

Why The Director Shouldn’t Take The Blame For The Flash’s Performance

Muschietti was confirmed as the director of The Brave and the Bold in June 2023, about six months after Gunn announced the film as part of the first chapter of the DCU: Gods and Monsters. It was also the month that The Flash was released — a hugely anticipated film now sitting in the bottom six of DCEU films based on worldwide gross.

Undoubtedly, The Flash is a dark blot on the copybooks of DC and the Argentinian director. It’s regarded as one of Warner Bros.’ most legendary flops, but it’s thanks to its director that it overcame an impressively difficult production history to make it to the screen at all.

The Flash emerged an impressive nine years after Ezra Miller was cast as the titular superhero. That year, 2014, was also when The Flash series joined The CW’s Arrowverse. The small screen Flash went on to notch up an impressive 9 seasons. The DCEU entry limped into theaters with a time-twisting story that was a shadow of the epics seen in its comic and TV counterparts. Packed with dubious CGI and strange cameos — including the final appearances of some DCEU icons — it was a comedy buddy movie, with both buddies played by Ezra Miller. Thanks to the return of Michael Keaton’s Batman and other controversial cameos, it was also an odd throwback to the superhero films of the 1970s and 1980s. In short, its tone was all over the place.

It’s easy to blame the disjointed and underperforming result on Muschietti, but that’s to overlook the film’s prolonged turmoil before he signed on. A movie based on the Flash had been discussed since the 1980s, but it firmed up early in the DCEU era when Warner Bros. set a tentative release date of 2013. The film was subsequently attached to prominent directors, including Aquaman’s James Wan, Phile Lord and Christopher Miller, Seth Grahame-Smith, and Rick Famuyiwa.

Sam Raimi, Marc Webb, and Jordan Peele were later drawn into the film’s orbit, along with Matthew Vaughn, Robert Zemeckis, and even Ben Affleck before Muschietti entered the scene in 2019. During that time, the treatment and script had passed through countless writers. Just before Muschietti joined, Ezra Miller recruited Grant Morrison — not just a Batman legend, but responsible for some great Flash-starring comics — to pen a script eventually rejected as the studio prioritized exploring a multiverse of DC characters. As the scripts shifted, so did the cast. In the fallout from Justice League, Ray Fisher’s Cyborg disappeared from the story. Still, against all odds, Miller survived in the lead role despite a succession of controversies that brought his casting into question.

It may not be Flashpoint (the legendary timeline-crushing comic event that influenced the film and Arrowverse series), but The Flash was a victim of many circumstances. It’s hard to hand Muschietti the blame for what emerged from one of the most challenging pre-productions of any modern superhero film. It was a poisoned chalice before the director came on board. In fact, it’s amazing it made it to the screen at all, and that doesn’t rank even lower in comic book movie takings, no matter how much that hurts fans of the Scarlet Speedster.

It’s no surprise that Warner Bros.’s faith in the director was increased as he steered what appeared to be an unfilmable movie to the screen. As Muschietti signed up to introduce the DCU’s Batman, The Flash was earning some astonishing praise from unexpected sources. While Gunn shepherds Superman to the screen, fans should have confidence that Muschietti is the right choice for Batman. They can expect the director to draw on not just the narrative experience of films like It, but also what must have been an enormous learning curve in bringing The Flash up to speed. It’s the turn of a new universe.