James Gunn Denies 'Brave and the Bold' Halt Amid Merger Talk

Is Batman on ice? Not according to James Gunn. The DC Studios co‑head jumped into social chatter to dismiss recent reports that The Brave and the Bold has been put on hold.

Fans have plenty to follow: DCU's first season, titled Gods and Monsters, is moving forward, HBO's Lanterns is expanding the new cinematic landscape, and several high‑profile projects remain in various stages of development. One of the most watched is The Brave and the Bold, the film expected to introduce the mainline DCU's version of Batman — a different take than Robert Pattinson's Elseworlds interpretation.

Rumors flared after a thread on X and a satirical account suggested actor Michael Johnston was negotiating to play Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing. Writer‑director Dan Marcus reacted to that claim and said he'd heard from Andy Muschietti that work on The Brave and the Bold had paused pending the outcome of a possible Warner Bros. Discovery‑Paramount merger.

Gunn saw the speculation and replied simply: No — nothing has been stopped. Short. Definitive. The kind of line that calms a campfire of online guesses in one breath.

Marcus later clarified he hadn’t realized the Nightwing post was a parody account and apologized for the confusion, but maintained he’d been told by Muschietti that some aspects of the project could be affected by corporate decisions. Muschietti himself, however, has not issued a public statement confirming a shutdown.

So where does that leave us? Studios talk mergers. Studios shift priorities. That’s business as usual. Yet the ongoing rollout of DCU series and the steady movement on other titles suggest the studio machine hasn’t ground to a halt — even if individual schedules might flex under boardroom pressure.

For now, fans should file the merger scare in the “hearsay” drawer and watch official channels for concrete updates. The Brave and the Bold remains a headline project — and when it moves, it will be impossible to miss.