Back in 2022, Zach Cregger, who’d just made his horror filmmaking debut with Barbarian, shared that he’d written a DC movie that he described as a “Batman-adjacent thing.” Cut to just a few weeks ago, it was rumored that this feature focuses on The Joker and Harley Quinn, and that Cregger intends to pitch it to DC Studios co-head James Gunn as a potential upcoming DC movie. Now, as the writer/director’s new movie Weapons opens on the 2025 movies schedule, the alleged premise of his DC idea has been revealed, and it sounds like inspired by one of the best Batman: The Animated Series episodes.
According to THR, Zach Cregger’s DC movie is called Henchmen, and it would follow “a low-level henchman in the Gotham crime world who gains notoriety after managing to incapacitate Batman through a stroke of luck.” The outlet has learned from sources that Joker and Harley Quinn would indeed be present in the story, and Batman himself could briefly appear. While Cregger hasn’t officially pitched Henchmen to DC Studios yet, the company is reportedly “aware of his interest.”
If this kind of story sounds familiar to you, that’s probably because you’ve seen the Batman: The Animated Series episode “The Man Who Killed Batman.” Originally airing on February 1, 1993, the episode saw an inept criminal named Sidney Debris accidentally knocking Batman to his seeming death in the middle of a drug run. Spoiler alert: Batman didn't die.
But until that big reveal, word gets around Gotham City of Sidney being the man who killed Batman, and he soon gets The Joker’s attention. Disgusted at the idea of someone like Sidney having eliminated his arch-nemesis, the Clown Prince of Crime and Harley Quinn arranged a jewel heist to confirm Batman was indeed dead. When the Caped Crusader didn’t show up, they held a funeral for him at the Ace Chemical Plant, which was really a ruse to knock off Sidney for taking Joker’s glory away from him. The funeral, seen below, as well as Mark Hamill uttering the line, “Without Batman, crime has no punchline,” are some of the reasons why this is one of my favorite BTAS episodes.
While I’m sure the events in Zach Cregger’s Henchmen unfold quite differently in comparison, I’d be shocked to learn if he wasn’t in any way inspired by “The Man Who Killed Batman” while writing his script. Regardless, as interesting as this idea may be, there’s no guarantee it’ll happen. James Gunn and fellow DC Studios head Peter Safran likely don’t want any Batman-related plans for the DC Universe to interfere with what Matt Reeves is doing for 2027’s The Batman: Part II and maybe even Part III, especially with Barry Keoghan playing the cackling villain in this continuity. Cregger is also already set to direct the Resident Evil reboot, so he’s keeping busy for the near future.
Still, with Weapons getting positive critical reception like Barbarian did, DC Studios would be wise to at least take a meeting with Cregger to hear his Henchmen pitch. Meanwhile, one Batman villain-focused DC Universe movie we can look forward is the Tom Rhys Harries-led Clayface, which opens in theaters on September 11, 2026.
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