James Gunn’s Superman franchise is now proven to beat Matt Reeves’ The Batman movies in an important way, no matter what anyone thinks of the films’ respective qualities. Both 2025’s Superman and 2022’s The Batman stand among the best DC movies in recent years. The films helped revitalize DC’s two biggest heroes after the DCEU movie franchise faltered following years of divisiveness.
They are extremely different, with Superman being a vibrant movie set within a living and breathing DC universe — it is the first movie in Gunn’s DC Universe. As for The Batman, Reeves’ film was also the first project in a shared universe, but one only focused on the Dark Knight, The Batman Epic Crime Saga, which is part of DC’s Elseworlds movies.
The Batman was darker than Superman and way more grounded, which suits Bruce Wayne. The DC movies ended up becoming box office hits — Superman finished at $618.7 million and The Batman at $772.7 million — and were universally beloved. At the time of writing, Gunn’s Superman boasts a high 83% critics’ score and a near-perfect 90% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Reeves’ The Batman follows suit, with a strong 85% critics’ score and an even better 87% audience score. Given the success of the Batman and Superman movies, DC Studios quickly put sequels for both of them in motion. However, they have had very different journeys, and Man of Tomorrow shows The Batman – Part II how it is done.
Man Of Tomorrow’s Schedule Is What We Wished For The Batman – Part II
Superman was released in theaters on July 11, 2025. After the DC movie became a global hit, it only took a couple of months for Gunn to announce that a sequel, Man of Tomorrow, was happening. The DCU movie was given a July 9, 2027, release date, and it is on track to meet that deadline, with filming currently underway and several DC heroes and villains either confirmed or rumored to appear in the highly-anticipated release. Being met with similar success, Reeves’ The Batman – Part II was revealed to be happening in April 2022, shortly after The Batman‘s release on March 4.
The Batman – Part II originally received a release date of October 3, 2025. However, due to the 2023 Hollywood strikes, it was delayed to October 2, 2026. Sadly, that chain reaction continued to disappoint DC fans for multiple years. The film was later pushed back to October 1, 2027, before The Batman – Part II was recently sent to February 18, 2028, with no reason given for the delay. As such, it is clear that Gunn’s Superman franchise beats Reeves’ The Batman release schedule. We will have a two-year wait between Superman movies and a 6-year wait for The Batman – Part II to arrive.
The Batman – Part II’s Delays Are Hurting James Gunn’s DCU
Of course, everyone wants The Batman – Part II to be the best movie it could be, so Reeves was never to be rushed. That said, a 6-year wait is far too much for a franchise that hinged its story on a younger Batman. Robert Pattinson was 35 years old when The Batman was released, and the actor will be 41 when the sequel comes out. That is hardly a young Bruce Wayne. Additionally, The Batman – Part II‘s many delays have now started to hurt another franchise. After all, DC can’t simply release two live-action Batman movies in the same year and expect casual viewers not to be confused.
Having two live-action versions of Batman running concurrently in different cinematic universes is already a hard ask for many, so releasing their solo movies in separate years is a must. As such, The Brave and the Bold, the announced first movie of the DCU’s Batman, will likely have to be released in 2029, at the earliest. If Batman does not appear in someone else’s project, the Dark Knight will only debut four years after Corenswet’s Superman, which is far from ideal. That is why Man of Tomorrow‘s release schedule beats The Batman – Part II‘s, as it creates no problems for DC.