Again in 2022, Zach Cregger, who’d simply made his horror filmmaking debut with Barbarian, shared that he’d written a DC film that he described as a “Batman-adjacent factor.” Lower to only a few weeks in the past, it was rumored that this function focuses on The Joker and Harley Quinn, and that Cregger intends to pitch it to DC Studios co-head James Gunn as a possible upcoming DC film. Now, as the author/director’s new film Weapons opens on the 2025 motion pictures schedule, the alleged premise of his DC thought has been revealed, and it feels like impressed by among the finest Batman: The Animated Collection episodes.
Based on THR, Zach Cregger’s DC film is named Henchmen, and it will comply with “a low-level henchman within the Gotham crime world who beneficial properties notoriety after managing to incapacitate Batman by way of a stroke of luck.” The outlet has discovered from sources that Joker and Harley Quinn would certainly be current within the story, and Batman himself might briefly seem. Whereas Cregger hasn’t formally pitched Henchmen to DC Studios but, the corporate is reportedly “conscious of his curiosity.”
If this sort of story sounds acquainted to you, that’s most likely since you’ve seen the Batman: The Animated Collection episode “The Man Who Killed Batman.” Initially airing on February 1, 1993, the episode noticed a clumsy felony named Sidney Particles unintentionally knocking Batman to his seeming loss of life in the course of a drug run. Spoiler alert: Batman did not die.
However till that huge reveal, phrase will get round Gotham Metropolis of Sidney being the person who killed Batman, and he quickly will get The Joker’s consideration. Disgusted on the thought of somebody like Sidney having eradicated his arch-nemesis, the Clown Prince of Crime and Harley Quinn organized a jewel heist to verify Batman was certainly lifeless. When the Caped Crusader didn’t present up, they held a funeral for him on the Ace Chemical Plant, which was actually a ruse to knock off Sidney for taking Joker’s glory away from him. The funeral, seen beneath, in addition to Mark Hamill uttering the road, “With out Batman, crime has no punchline,” are among the explanation why that is one in every of my favourite BTAS episodes.
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Whereas I’m certain the occasions in Zach Cregger’s Henchmen unfold fairly otherwise compared, I’d be shocked to study if he wasn’t in any manner impressed by “The Man Who Killed Batman” whereas writing his script. Regardless, as attention-grabbing as this concept could also be, there’s no assure it’ll occur. James Gunn and fellow DC Studios head Peter Safran seemingly don’t need any Batman-related plans for the DC Universe to intrude with what Matt Reeves is doing for 2027’s The Batman: Half II and possibly even Half III, particularly with Barry Keoghan enjoying the cackling villain on this continuity. Cregger can also be already set to direct the Resident Evil reboot, so he’s maintaining busy for the close to future.
Nonetheless, with Weapons getting constructive essential reception like Barbarian did, DC Studios can be clever to at the least take a gathering with Cregger to listen to his Henchmen pitch. In the meantime, one Batman villain-focused DC Universe film we are able to look ahead is the Tom Rhys Harries-led Clayface, which opens in theaters on September 11, 2026.