Creature Commandos' surprise cameo disproves a major Battinson theory in James Gunn's DCU

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from the latest episode of Creature Commandos, including a major cameo

Creature Commandos Season 1 Episode 6, titled Priyatel Skelet, had a surprise appearance in store for fans. The episode narrated Doctor Phosphorus' dark origin tale involving crime boss Rupert Thorne, but what blew viewers away was a cameo from none other than Batman. While fans thought that Robert Pattinson would be Batman of DCU, this episode proved the opposite.

It is to be noted that what we get in this episode is just a silhouette of The Dark Knight. We don't even know what the suit looks like. The Batman cameo, James Gunn has confirmed in an interview, was intentional. Initially, the episode was supposed to have Batman appear for a longer time than just a few seconds. Gunn, however, revealed he hasn't figured out what Batman looks like in the DCU.

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Batman's silhouette in DCU's Creature Commandos explained

Towards the end of the episode, Alexander Sartorius, now transformed into Doctor Phosphorus, takes over Thorne's mob empire after killing him. There is a montage of Phosphorus becoming an increasingly powerful crime lord. At the end of the montage, we see a party in which Phosphorus is dancing. However, the power supply at the party is cut and Phosphorus looks at the skylight above.

We see the DCU Batman standing there, as lightning strikes in the sky, reminiscent of the introduction in Batman: The Animated Series. The shout-out to the classic animated series gives hope to fans about the DCU Batman after last week's one-two punch of The Batman II getting delayed and Batman: The Brave and The Bold still not having a release date. Here's how fandom reacted:

Some fans even appreciated the vagueness of his appearance. This only keeps James Gunn's DCU and Batman in the cultural conversation for the next few months:

In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, James Gunn discussed Batman's appearance in Creature Commandos Episode 6, saying:

“When they first gave it to me, we saw a lot more Batman, and I was saying, ‘I am not ready to commit to that! I kept insisting, ‘More silhouette! More silhouette! More silhouette!’”

He elaborated:

“I think it’s a great way to show that Batman does exist. He already exists in this universe. Just like in the Superman movie, we see that Superman is already known by the people in Metropolis. We don’t need to hear the origin story again.”

Here's the interview:

Most people had figured out that Robert Pattinson's Batman from 2022's The Batman or "Battinson" was not the DCU Batman. However, there were others who felt Pattinson would make the cut.

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Why did people think that Battinson is the DCU Batman?

Rumours circulated for a while that the actor to play DCU's version of Batman was Robert Pattinson or "Battinson", even though James Gunn had confirmed otherwise. Back in the January 2023 announcement, Gunn revealed that Matt Reeves' The Batman Universe, much like Todd Philps' Joker movies, falls under the "Elseworlds" category. In other words, these films are separate from mainstream DCU.

However, during his interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, James Gunn did reveal that he briefly considered incorporating Battinson into the DCU:

"I've contemplated it, yeah. I contemplate everything. I talk about everything... I'd be an idiot not to think of how can this go or how can this go, but I'm committed to both telling stories in the DCU and telling Elseworlds stories."

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Why does separating Battinson from DCU make sense?

While some may not like it, keeping Matt Reeves' Universe and James Gunn's DCU separate seems like a prudent choice. Reeves' Universe is way too dark and gritty, even when the movie is rated PG-13. The Batman does contain really violent imagery that pushes its rating hard. The DC Universe conversely, isn't all that dark.

Even if Creature Commandos is rated R and is hyper-violent, the show is still funny. Despite the violence, the show does set up the wider DCU consisting of Metropolis, Smallville, Gotham, and Keystone City. Also, Gunn revealed that the DCU is a universe where superheroes always existed.

If The Batman Universe were to be incorporated into this universe, questions would be raised about where they were when Gotham was flooded. Or, where they were during the events of The Penguin. So, for now, all we have to do is wait for Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

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When will Batman: The Brave and the Bold be released?

Batman: The Brave and the Bold does not have a release date yet because, Gunn revealed, the script is incomplete. Director Andy Muschietti, too, may direct another movie before filming the DCU film. In an interview with a Spanish podcast, he gave a surprising update about Batman: The Brave and the Bold:

"I’m now writing a science fiction movie that I would like to do… Batman is a project that’s been postponed a bit. So there could be another film before it, possibly that one."

It is important to note that the above is a translation of the original Spanish quote. Here is the interview:

Directed by IT filmmaker Muschietti, Batman: The Brave and the Bold has fans excited because it features the character of Robin. The last time fans saw the character was in the 1997 Joel Schumacher directorial, Batman & Robin. However, this time, instead of Richard "Dick" Grayson, Jason Todd, Or Tim Drake, we get Damian Wayne as Robin. As the name suggests, Damian is Bruce Wayne's son with Talia al Ghul.

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Did you watch Creature Commandos Episode 6 yet? If so, what's your reaction to the DCU Batman's appearance in the episode? Are you hopeful or disappointed? Tell us in the comment section below.