The internet was equal parts outraged and excited when Robert Pattinson was confirmed to be the new Batman. However, that furor pales in comparison to a wild rumour that’s making the comic book rounds: DC may be giving us a Dark Knight who isn’t Bruce Wayne and is black.
Yeah. Amazing, right?
Now take this with a bat cowl full of salt but Bleeding Cool says a number “prominent sources” confirm that DC Comics plan on introducing a black Batman in 2020 leading into 2021.
As for who will be this rumoured new Caped Crusader, Bleeding Cool says it doesn’t know but it definitely won’t be Bruce Wayne or Duke Thomas (since he’s taken up the mantle of Signal recently). While theories have been tossed around, it’s likely DC will opt for a completely new character no one’s ever seen before.
Again, lots of salt should be taken with this rumour.
Should this all come to fruition – and here’s hoping it does – then it would be a massive step forward from DC since every incarnation of the Dark Knight so far has been white. No shade to Robert Pattinson, who will undoubtedly do a great job in Matt Reeves’ live-action Batman film.
It also means that a black Batman will also eventually spill over into the movie side of things, which will be a hell of a milestone for DC. We’ve already seen how well black characters have been integrated into the Marvel universe, not to mention a black/Latino Spider-Man with Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, so it’ll be great when DC finally takes this big leap.
Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves though because DC has yet to comment on these black Batman rumours and who knows if Bleeding Cool‘s sources are solid.
But here’s hoping the comic book behemoth will follow up on the buzz by bringing us a Caped Crusader of colour because not only will that open up a treasure trove of interesting character and storytelling potential, the dream of seeing Michael B. Jordan suited up as the Dark Knight on the big screen at some point in the future just entered the realm of possibility.