After over a decade, the DCEU is now coming to a close in the year of 2023. Shazam: Fury of the Gods, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and The Flash mark three of the last films to come from the old universe, although the latter might just leave some clues as to the direction of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new world moving forward.
Earlier this year, Gunn announced an initial slate for the new universe, now called the DCU, which he titled Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. This first chapter, which is essentially the equivalent of a phase in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will feature the highly anticipated Superman Legacy, which will be written and directed by James Gunn and is now currently in pre-production, with casting underway to find the next Man of Steel. Other projects include Creature Commandos, Waller, Swamp Thing, and The Brave and the Bold, which will introduce the DCU’s Batman and Bat-Family and will be inspired by Grant Morrison's run of Batman comics.
That a new Batman film was announced was one of the most surprising reveals earlier this year, but it does show the ambition of Gunn and co. The new Brave and the Bold film has a lot of potential, particularly if they follow the path of some of the most popular live-action Batman stories to date, particularly The Dark Knight. In the middle chapter of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, the main supervillain Joker teamed up with the various mob groups in Gotham. This made for an interesting dynamic which saw the antagonists united against Batman, something that should be replicated in The Brave and the Bold.
The Dark Knight showed the mob working with the Joker
The Dark Knight is considered by many to be the best superhero movie of all time, and its impact on the genre is still there for all to see to this day. Much of that had to do with the performance of Heath Ledger as the Joker, who redefined the character in the film and legitimized the superhero genre by winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2009. In that film, the Joker was frightening because he essentially had no motive other than to disturb and disrupt Batman and cause chaos in Gotham city, which in itself had many metaphors to the political and social landscape of the mid 2000s.
To accomplish that goal, the Joker used the mob and their leaders as allies. They were essentially pawns in his wider plan of destruction, but they were often unknowing of the full extent of what he wanted to as they viewed him as just a crazy man dressed like a clown. Overall, combining the Joker with the mob introduced an interesting dynamic to the villains in Gotham city as they reluctantly worked together to get what they wanted, something that also helped the story of the film become more streamlined and focused.
Batman's crime families often team up with supervillains
In the comics, the more threatening supervillains have at times teamed up with the crime families located in Gotham City, and Christopher Nolan tapped directly into that for his trilogy of films, particularly the middle chapter. This would be a clever direction for The Brave and the Bold to go in in the future, particularly as it’s still a relatively new and fresh path to go down for a Batman story. Many Batman films have the mob in the same story as the supervillains, such as Matt Reeves’ film from last year, but not teamed up in a way that would see them as allies for a part of the story.
The Brave and the Bold is expected to be more fantastical and have a less realistic take on these characters and the world of Gotham City, particularly as Batman and co. will be existing in the same universe as Superman and other heightened heroes and villains. Because of that, the concept of the supervillains teaming up with the mob could work even better as it can be done without needing to worry about if the seriousness of the story can be retained.
As well as that, Joker is not the only villain that can team up with the crime lords of Gotham in the film. Two Face, the Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter, and more could all join forces with the mob at some point, and many of them have done just that in certain comic book storylines in the past. This has also been done in Gotham, the TV show that ended in 2019, which featured the supervillains and the mob in vital roles. Despite not being hugely popular during its release, Gotham is now becoming a highly influential project in shaping the future of the DC franchise.