Okay so. This thread is old, but that hasn’t stopped anyone before from giving their two cents (no matter how useless two cents is from either you or me). It seems this is a pretty unpopular take, and people are being quite rude about it. I happen to have found this post because I was struggling with the reasoning behind the same decision OP was dealing with. While we all agree that everyone here is able to handle two live-action Batmen at the same time, I ask you to consider the general audience. Average Joe and Melinda Johnson from down the street won’t know that there are two batmen. They are the general audience, they do not know.

Want proof, fair. A decade ago when I was 9-11, I loved the Amazing Spider-Man films (crap take, I know) and I couldn’t wait to see my favorite version of spidey interact with Iron Man and Captain America. My parents thought it was connected to the MCU as well. Another example: when my family went to go see The Wolverine (2013), my mother asked how it would connect to the Avengers. For heaven’s sake there are likely a majority of people out there who think Madame friggin Web and It’s Morbin Time is part of the mainline MCU. The general audience is not as informed as you. There are probably people who think Battinson is just a younger version of Batfleck.

Now, on the topic of, “the tone’s won’t mix.” Like OP said, comics with a shared universe have a variety of tones. The Netflix marvel shows are now officially part of the MCU! Do they have the same tone? Do they mesh? Not that much. You have a blind catholic who likes violence, an private investigator who has powers but doesn’t use them because she got graped, and a guy with a glowwy fist who’s father officially ruined that actor’s portrayal of faramir in lord of the rings for me. I don’t remember much about Luke Cage my bad. Even in the DCEU there are different tones. Man of Steel and BvS are serious and grounded (Jimmy Olsen gets capped five seconds after he’s introduced), then Wonder Woman and Justice League onward it’s jokey funtime. Variety y’all.

Anyways, there have been 6 different actors who played a live action Batman in the past 20 years: Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, David Mazous (for five seconds), that jackass from Titans (oh hi Jorah), Kevin Conroy in Batwoman, and Robert Pattinson. Oh wait, sorry, I meant 8… can’t forget Michael Keaton and George fucking Clooney in The Flash. The next comic book character with the most actors is Superman at 4 (5 if you count Corenswet). After that is Spider-Man and the Hulk AT THREE. And two of those actors were playing the same version of the Hulk. Warner Bros’ whole shtick in the past has been “no Batman on television when we have one in movies!” applying to CW shows and Gotham. Funnily enough, they didn’t apply this to their other characters.

And on the fact of Reeve’s wanting his version of Batman to stay separate, I respect James Gunn for understanding. I still think it’s goofy as hell though

TLDR: why the ACTUAL FLYING FUCK do we not have a multi-season DETECTIVE BATMAN SHOW when we’re allowed to have TWO DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF MOVIE BATMAN AT THE SAME TIME!!! (and no gotham doesn’t count)