Leon Bennett/WireImage
Fans of Batman on the big screen — which, historically and culturally speaking, is *a lot* of people — are, at least, confounded and, at most, furious at James Gunn’s decision on who he’s hired to write and direct the DCU’s upcoming Batman movie. Separate from Robert Pattinson’s Batman, the DCU’s version of the Dark Knight will exist alongside the recently introduced Superman.
While Andy Muschietti — the filmmaker behind the two modern It movies and its recent spinoff series It: Welcome to Derry — has been attached to the DCU’s Batman film for a few years, much of the pop culture world had assumed that deal would dissolve after the disaster that was 2023’s The Flash, which he also directed.
Surprisingly, though, not only is Muschietti still loosely attached to direct — it will apparently depend on scheduling — but writer Christina Hodson is on board to pen the script, which is arguably more concerning, as she’s written middling blockbusters such as Bumblebee, Birds of Prey, and, worst of all, The Flash.
Movie fans cannot understand why James Gunn and DC Studios have hired Christina Hodson and Andy Muschietti to write and direct the franchise’s Batman film
After it was reported by the Hollywood trades that Hodson and Muschietti were attached to Batman, fans of the iconic superhero went straight to social media to voice their concerns.
mind you sam raimi is practically begging to make a batman movie https://t.co/2RXakuwGME
— doctor idk (@bigmonkeong) January 21, 2026
matt reeves seeing his batman competition https://t.co/zAFeTnuz7G pic.twitter.com/G9rEMDHXNs
— Axel 🦇 (@AxelTalksFilm) January 21, 2026
“Batman has genuinely never looked worse on screen than when being directed by Andy Muschietti. This makes Batman & Robin and Josstice League look like Blade Runner,” one fan said of The Flash.
“I am not a big shot Hollywood executive, but to me, hiring the director and now the writer of one of the previous regime’s most calamitous flops to reboot Batman does not seem like a promising path forward,” a second mused.
“Goofier, quips every 15 seconds, annoying brats for sidekicks, monsters, superhero cameos and don’t forget a bad writer and bad director. Gotta make sure it’s the opposite of THE BATMAN,” a third worried.
“Can you imagine if Matt Reeves wasn’t doing The Batman 2 and this was all fans had to look forward to? What a chilling thought,” another wondered.
“DC knows this is Batman right? Could probably easily get Sam Raimi, Spielberg, hell maybe even James Cameron if they really tried. And we are settling for not even a b-tier writer, this is basically someone who has only written flops let’s be real,” was an additional fan’s concern.
DCU fans forcing themselves to like the latest DCU Batman update pic.twitter.com/Ub8yWbhAtR
— Hernandy D. Morales (@hernandy_s) January 21, 2026
.@/JamesGunn pic.twitter.com/V3jXBsdq7l https://t.co/knHJhDnvxD
— *leslie (@LEZB0B0MB) January 21, 2026
Next up in the DCU, following the official launch of the franchise with the James Gunn-written-and-directed Superman in July 2025, will be Supergirl, which stars Milly Alcock in the lead role and will hit theaters on June 26, 2026 (you can check out the official trailer below). Then, in September, will be the release of Clayface, a eccentric swing from the studio as the film is centered around the shape-shifting B-tier Batman villain.