Update: August 23, 2017
Director Matt Reeves Says THE BATMAN is Not Part of the Extended Universe
Whether or not Ben Affleck is Batman, the character's titular film
The Batman may not be reliant on the rest of the DC Extended Universe.
In a recent interview,
The Batman director Matt Reeves revealed he was pitched on the standalone film as it being an isolated approach to Gotham's Dark Knight.
"When they approached me, what they said was, 'Look, it’s a standalone. This isn’t part of the Extended Universe,'" Reeves said on The Business podcast in July.
For Reeves, it's all about being able to tell his own story with the film. "I am also totally fine not doing Batman. It's not like I want to do any version of Batman. I want to do my version of Batman and if that's exciting to them, which so far everything we've talked about is, then that's incredibly exciting because it means, 'Wow! We're gonna do something we're all excited about!'"
"If they're not, that's completely their perogative," Reeves said. "This is their franchise. They own the characters. They're going to spend a tremendous amount of money. I'm not asking anyone to do what they don't want to do."
On Tuesday, the ground nearly shook when Deadline revealed a standalone Joker origin story film was on the way. It was the first news of DC Films and Warner Bros. introducing stories which exist in their own worlds outside of the DC Extended Universe, coming complete with a new actor in the titular Batman nemesis role who is not Jared Leto.
Speculation looking back on Reeves' comments paired with the Joker film in separate universe points to The Batman film existing in a similar, isolated world.
Matt Reeves Was Told 'The Batman' Is Not Part Of The Extended Universe