Why The Batman And Nightwing Should Be Released In 2019

Last night (23rd February 2017) two MASSIVE DC Universe stories came out, first was Matt Reeves has been officially signed as the director of The Batman and Chris McKay looks set to helm the Nightwing movie.

Both these stories broke social media and I think people were more excited about Nightwing film and The Batman finally having a new director. It just shows how popular Dick Grayson is to fans and the potential is endless.

IMAGE VIA DC COMICS

Now I don’t what fans are thinking if we’re going to get both or maybe Nightwing in 2018, but I think The Batman coming out in 2018 is dead in the water because Reeves still has to do post production on War for the Planet of the Apes, which is very CG heavy and it’ll all be done before the film’s July release date.

So if Reeves did start filming before the summer, the stress would be way, way too much for one person to think about – casting, pre-production and filming The Batman, handling WFTPOTA post production, worldwide press for WFTPOTA, back to filming The Batman.

So it’s easier and better for The Batman to be released in Summer/Autumn 2019. 

Meanwhile, Nightwing or Gotham City Sirens could be Summer 2018 releases and join Aquaman to make sure DC have two films released next year but don’t rush (especially Nightwing) to meet a release date. I think a lot of fans will be quite happy with Aquaman being the only film of 2018.

The reason why I’m happy to wait is not only do I want to see fantastic, awesome films that audiences will love and Warner Bros can have faith in their own franchise, but also Forbes’ Mark Hughes made a great point in a previous article; make 2019 the year of the Bat.

Because 2019 marks the 80th Anniversary of Batman’s first appearance in comic books and to celebrate have a handful of Batman themed film releases.

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The only thing throwing a spanner in the works is The Flash because unless WB pulls their finger out and have a director in mind and hired, I think it’ll depend on how well Kong: Skull Island is received be critics and audiences, to have any chance of getting some out of late summer 2018 release.

However, I think that might be dead too due to Ezra Miller committing to filming Fantastic Beasts 2.

Just for my own sake, just imagine Warner Bros has hired a director and filming will be beginning shortly.

So how would 2019 “The Year of The Bat” look like.

Nightwing – February 2019

Kick the year off with the most well-known comic book sidekick ever Dick Grayson. Plus, February is becoming more of an important month for studios.

The thing is I don’t know what sort of story I want to see, which is super exciting. The only thing I can see at the moment is just have a few flashbacks – leaving Bruce and become his own man and hero, to his flying Grayson days, hearing the news about Jason Todd’s death, interacting with Alfred during the events of Batman v Superman and trying to get a hold of Bruce and try talk sense to him.

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I’m 99% certain none of this will be in the film because whatever McKay has clicking inside his head is way, way better.

Who do I think should play Nightwing? I mean Zac Efron is hot and is a great actor, but I think they’ve already cast him and it’s 30-year-old Armie Hammer with Warner having a bold, ballsy move coming up.

Gotham City Sirens – May/June 2019

David Ayer could direct a really fun summer action film showcasing how badass Harley Quinn, Catwoman and Poison Ivy are to the wider audiences.

Even though one of the highlights for a lot of people who didn’t like Suicide Squad was Margot Robbie as Quinn, but there were still critics and fans who were disappointed in the character’s depiction.

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So to have them back on-side and show how great this character is and why she’s so beloved is finally having enough of The Joker’s abuse, kick the leaving crap out of him and leave to become her own strong, independent woman.

Even plant the seeds of an Ivy and Harley romance.

Story wise – Make it a girl’s night out robbing banks and causing chaos around Gotham before properly messing up and getting in a shit tonne of trouble with the film’s big bad.

Have a Batgirl and Batman cameo as build up to The Batman.

The Batman – August-October 2019

It’s common sense to end “The Year of The Bat” with The Batman and it could be an end of the summer blockbuster dominate for two months or come out in October and dominate until Fantastic Beasts 2, which would likely be a November release again.

Story wise – After decades in the cowl make this Ben Affleck’s and Bruce Wayne’s final appearance as The Dark Knight. His old, aching and just burnt out, Batman as to stop Deathstroke and battle all his rogue's gallery and put them back into Arkham.

IMAGE VIA WARNER BROS/ CLAY ENOS

With help from Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin (I like the idea of Damian Wayne) and surviving the final battle with Deathstroke, Bruce realises he can’t do it anymore.

The final scenes of the film would be Bruce talking to Dick saying he isn’t the man he once was and he has to retire and it’ll be the passing of the torch from father to son similar to this panel.

IMAGE VIA DC COMICS

It’ll be a ballsy move from WB to have this DCU lead by a non-Bruce Wayne Batman, it’ll make the studio look good in this classy move, it’ll make Ben Affleck look good and can walk away with no anger or bitterness and it leaves the door open for an old Affleck to come back and actually do a live-action adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns.

It’ll be a nice nod to Hammer, who was going to play Batman in George Miller’s Justice League Mortal.

However, if Justice League is a huge critical and box office success and everyone is praising Affleck for his performance. I could see him staying on just a little bit longer and end his acting career as Batman.