Superman and Batman are both getting reboots in the years ahead. 2022, of course, delivers Matt Reeves’ The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, while J.J. Abrams is producing a new Man of Steel movie set to feature a black Clark Kent, as based on a script from Marvel Comics writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. Both of these projects will take place outside the mainline DCEU continuity, but don’t expect them to cross over.
Recently, Giant Freakin Robot shared that Pattinson’s Dark Knight will allegedly meet Supes somewhere in The Batman universe, confirming that it won’t be Henry Cavill’s iteration. Geekosity has now followed up on that earlier intel and says that the Superman Pattinson will team up with is “unlikely” to be Abrams’ version. The outlet states that the new Man of Steel film is comparable to an Elseworlds project and is set on its own Earth, separate from the primary DCEU (Earth-1) and The Batman‘s world (Earth-2).
That fits with what we’ve heard about the Abrams/Coates project already, as instead of using another black Kryptonian hero from the comics, such as Val-Zod or Calvin Ellis, it looks set to simply reimagine Clark as a person of color, which adds fuel to the idea of it being part of its own self-contained canon. It’s worth pointing out that Val-Zod does come from Earth-2 in the comics, so maybe there’s a slim chance he could be the one to appear in the Reeves universe. But that’s just speculation at this time.
With two separate Supermen about to be introduced, then, it seems like there might not be any room for Henry Cavill to return at some point. However, it’s still a possibility and it’s being said that Dwayne Johnson is on his side and wants to bring him back for the Black Adam franchise. Which means it’s conceivable that we may be about to have three different incarnations of the Big Blue Boy Scout in the movies before long.
The Batman is coming to theaters next March, while the Superman reboot might finally get going when it casts its leading man.
