While it’s pretty normal these days to think of Bruce Wayne/Batman and Clark Kent/Superman inhabiting the same world, it was anything but normal before the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) popularized the “shared cinematic universe” format.It’s long been the norm in comic books, but it was Iron Man (2008) — the MCU’s first outing — that got the ball rolling on the silver screen, paving the way for DC to follow suit.The DC Extended Universe (DCEU), which featured Superman (Henry Cavill) and Batman (Ben Affleck), is now (mostly) defunct. Now, James Gunn’s Superman (2025) is out in theaters, and it sets the stage for a new DC that will feature another iteration of Batman.So, with Batman set to return to the silver screen in The Brave and the Bold, there’s currently a pretty big Riddler-sized question mark over who will don the cape and cowl.Either way, Batman and Superman sharing the same world has long become commonplace.Credit: DC / Warner Bros.Related: Confirmed: Michael Keaton’s Batman Will Finally Return in Direct Sequel to 1989 FilmSuperman Exists in the SchumacherverseIf we cast our minds back to, say, Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), the game-changing film that helped to shape the superhero movie genre as we know it (but let’s also not forget that Richard Donner’s Superman truly set the stage in 1978), the idea of different DC heroes occupying the same time and space would have been quite unusual, to say the least.Still, ideas may have been explored behind the scenes, which could explain why there are gags and references about other characters in some of the older superhero solo films. Take Batman & Robin (1997), for instance. Tired of hearing Robin complaining about not having his own car, Batman (George Clooney) quips, “This is why Superman works alone.”While this was likely nothing more than a fun little nod to the Caped Crusader’s fellow DC superhero, it could also imply that the Last Son of Krypton actually exists within the Batman universe established in those films.Credit: DC / Warner Bros.Related: DCU Reboot Superman’s AI-Generated Cape ExplainedDoes Superman Exist in the Burtonverse?The question is, what exactly do we mean by “those films”? Things have become pretty complicated where Tim Burton’s two Batman films and Joel Schumacher’s two Batman films are concerned–but not that they were ever simple to begin with.Originally intended as direct sequels to Burton’s Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), Schumacher’s Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin are now considered to exist in their own separate continuity. And it’s easy to imagine this being the case.Not only is Michael Keaton replaced by Val Kilmer in the 1995 sequel, with Clooney taking over in the 1997 quadrilogy-topper, the last two films look vastly different to the first two.If Burton’s films are described as “quasi-gothic,” then Schumacher’s are “quasi-futuristic“. Then there’s the tone. Though campiness is present throughout all four films, the last two are easily more light-hearted than the first two. The only true throughlines that bind all four films are Michael Gough’s Alfred Pennyworth and Pat Hingle’s Commissioner Jim Gordon.So, if the Burtonverse and Schumacherverse are indeed untethered to one another, does this mean that Superman doesn’t exist within the former? Not so fast.Credit: DC / Warner Bros.Related: New DC Universe ‘Superman’ Movie Arrives: Spoiler-Free Review2023’s DCEU Multiverse flick, The Flash, complicates matters even further. Not only does it see the return of Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne/Batman, it also features a digitally-rendered version of Christopher Reeve’s Clark Kent/Superman. But the film suggests that these particular depictions exist worlds apart via the DC Multiverse.However, a new addition to the Burtonverse–a novel titled “Batman: Resurrection” from author John Jackson Miller, which is considered canon with the four Batman films–finally reveals whether Superman exists alongside Michael Keaton’s Gotham City crime-fighter.The answer? Yes. And it all comes down the name-dropping of one word: Metropolis.Credit: DC / Warner Bros.Related: ‘Batman’ (1989) Sequel Casts Martin Short as Riddler and Jeff Goldblum as ScarecrowMetropolis is a bustling city and home to the Daily Planet, where Superman poses under his human alias, the journalist Clark Kent (not to be confused with his real, Smallville-raised persona of the same name). Unlike Gotham City, Metropolis is often portrayed as bright and sunny; a stark contrast to the grimy, gloomy, and gothic streets of Batman’s home city.But which version of Superman exists in the Burtonverse? The answer is obvious: it’s Christopher Reeve’s definitive portrayal.While there’s no way of knowing this from “Batman: Resurrection” alone, you need to turn to DC Comics’ “Batman ’89” and “Superman ’78”, each of which follows their respective cinematic counterparts canonically, just like Miller’s 2024 novel.