A recent interview has set the record straight for Batman’s future in James Gunn’s DCU, and a lot of fans aren’t too pleased with his answer.

Following an interview with Collider’s Steven Weintraub, James Gunn and co-CEO of DC Studios James Safran were asked whether or not Robert Pattinson would be reprising his role as Batman in the upcoming DCU project The Brave and the Bold – and the answer probably isn’t what you were hoping to hear.

“It’s certainly not the plan. Like it’s certainly not the plan,” replied Gunn.

“No, yeah, and we love him,” added Safran, “but you know, we have to introduce a Batman into the DCU. You know, it’s imperative and so, that’s the plan with Brave and the Bold.”

Over on DC Film News’ tweet detailing the news, the overwhelming majority of the replies aren’t exactly positive.

“Not a fan of having two different Batman leads,” commented user @TrendyDude3, “My hope was that they would incorporate Pattinson in a limited role in the DCU. More of a supporting role. Rather have that than a different actor in a Brave and the Bold standalone film.”

“The issue James Gunn has now, though, is not only does he need to find the right man to cast in his DCU, but he has to make sure the performance and the story deliver too,” replied user @Jw95Kieran.

“Now, his DCU has gotten off to a great start, but he absolutely has to maintain this moving forward.”

The thing is, this is actually a bit of a non-news story – even though fans seem to have gaslit themselves into thinking otherwise.

James Gunn officially stated, a very long time ago, that Robert Pattison would not be reprising his role as Batman in the main DCU films, and that both The Batman and The Batman Part II would be branded as part of the “DC Elseworlds” timeline.

Unfortunately, I guess fans had just been holding out hope that (for whatever reason) Gunn would change his mind, but it seems that he’s remaining steadfast in his decision.