Christina Hodson is officially at work on a new Batman film for DC Studios. The screenwriter, whose credits include Bumblebee, Birds of Prey, and The Flash, is penning The Brave and the Bold, a project that will introduce the DCU’s version of Batman and bring Robin to the forefront.
This iteration draws inspiration from Grant Morrison’s Batman, pairing Bruce Wayne with Damian Wayne, a highly trained, morally complicated Robin raised by assassins and revealed to be the son Bruce never knew he had.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hodson has been developing the screenplay since at least last fall. Sources note that DC Studios leadership James Gunn and Peter Safran are taking a deliberate approach, with no rush on a final draft as the studio carefully builds out its interconnected DCU.
Gunn and Safran first announced The Brave and the Bold in January 2023, confirming at the time that Robert Pattinson would not portray this version of Batman. Gunn described the film as “a very strange father-and-son story,” introducing the DCU’s Bruce Wayne alongside Damian Wayne, whom he memorably called “a little son of a b****.”
While that project continues to take shape, audiences are still awaiting The Batman Part II, which will see Pattinson return under the direction of Matt Reeves. Colin Farrell, who reprises his role as The Penguin, has teased that the sequel will be “deeper” and “scarier” than its 2022 predecessor, even as his own screen time decreases. Marvel Studios vets Scarlett Johansson and Sebastian Stan have also joined the film.
Farrell, a lifelong Batman fan, has spoken enthusiastically about Reeves’ vision of Gotham, praising its psychological depth and the ongoing question at the heart of the character: whether Bruce Wayne or Batman is the true identity. For him, simply existing in that world remains a thrill.
With Hodson shaping The Brave and the Bold and Reeves continuing his darker, standalone saga, Batman’s future on screen appears to be expanding in bold, parallel directions.
The Geek is a working screenwriter, director and screenwriting instructor.
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