The latest updates about the DC Universe‘s movies have further cemented that Robert Pattinson will not be the DCU’s main Batman, and that The Batman‘s world will remain separate. The immense success of The Batman and its show spinoff The Penguin have put Pattinson’s hero into the spotlight just as the DC Universe is beginning to get underway.

Naturally, this has led to conversations about whether this version of the Caped Crusader could work in the DC Universe timeline. Though prior statements have addressed the fact that The Batman‘s world and the main DCU timeline’s world are set to be different, one recent set pH๏τo helps reinforce this idea.

The DCU’s Latest Movie Set PH๏τos Further Prove The Batman Is Set In A Different Universe

While it had previously been established that Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe and the main DCU timeline would exist as two separate movie worlds – with The Batman being one of the first official DCU alternate reality “Elseworlds” series – this hasn’t stopped speculation that the two could end up intertwining, and that Robert Pattinson could thus become the DCU’s main Batman.

These theories were recently exacerbated by some of the set pH๏τos for the DCU’s Clayface movie, as the fact there were some visual similarities between The Batman‘s and Clayface‘s iterations of Gotham made the prospect of the two franchises combining and becoming one seem more possible to some, especially with no DCU Batman casting in sight as of yet.

However, the same film that stoked these theories has also proved a further point of proof that these worlds are indeed still separate, and intend to be kept that way. This is thanks to Clayface set pH๏τos that provide the first tease of the Penguin, with an in-universe poster asking readers to go to Gotham’s Amusement Mile to:

“Behold the one and only Penguin Man!“

With other posters revealing that Amusement Mile has a circus containing, amongst other things, a “freakshow“, it seems the Clayface poster teases that the DCU’s Penguin will have his origin story be as part of said circus – especially because the “Penguin Man” is shown with a hairstyle and suit that mirrors most depictions of the DC character.

Given The Batman notably already has its own version of the Penguin – and Oz Cobb’s origin story, depiction and overall life are entirely different to what’s teased here – the poster reiterates that The Batman‘s world and rogues gallery don’t match up here, underscoring that these universes will be very different in some key and core ways.

Why The Batman Is Best Off In An Alternate Universe To The DCU

It’s understandable that there have been calls for The Batman to integrate into the DCU. After all, the series has provided a stunning and successful depiction of the Dark Knight, his world, and the stories that can unfold within it – and the prospect of David Corenswet’s Superman and Robert Pattinson’s Batman teaming up has sold a lot of fans conceptually.

However, to combine these universes would be to effectively undermine one of them. The Batman works because of its gritty and grounded world, and placing Pattinson’s Batman instead into a cinematic universe wherein figures like Metamorpho and Doctor Phosphorus exist risks having to lose this element in a major way.

Inversely, the DCU keeping The Batman‘s world as dark, gritty and grounded would ostensibly be at odds with the main releases that seem to be impending for the franchise. While it has been said the DCU will have a lot of different tones, keeping The Batman tonally the same would seemingly require delving little into lighter Superman-esque territory or crossovers.

Though the future doesn’t appear to be set in stone, the different needs for the DCU‘s Batman and The Batman‘s stories certainly suggest the current approach of letting each separately do its own thing will pay dividends. That said, it does appear both movie worlds will have deeply tragic stories for their respective takes on the Penguin, if nothing else.