‘The Batman II’ is underway: here’s everything we know so far
It’s been half a decade since Robert Pattinson first donned the cape as The Batman, the sequel is officially on track
IT’S BEEN HALF A DECADE since Robert Pattinson first donned the cowl in The Batman, and the sequel is now officially on track. Warner Bros. has confirmed that The Batman Part II will begin filming in northern spring 2026, ahead of a locked-in theatrical release on October 1, 2027.
The long delay between instalments, originally slated for late 2025, has prompted some impatience online, but DC Studios head James Gunn has defended the slower pace. “To be fair, a five-year gap or more is fairly common in sequels,” Gunn has said, pointing to the lengthy waits between Aliens, Incredibles 2 and Top Gun: Maverick. Unlike Marvel’s faster production model, Gunn’s approach mandates that no DC film moves forward until the script is finished. And as of June this year, Matt Reeves’ screenplay is complete.
What is The Batman II about?
Pattinson will return as Bruce Wayne, following a busy slate that’s included Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three. Plot details remain tightly held, but Reeves has hinted at a darker, more fractured Gotham, one that mirrors real-world political disarray. The film will explore the fragmentation of truth and the forces that exploit it. “Everybody is in their own silo,” Reeves said. “That’s definitely one of the things that we’re looking at in Gotham”.
One thread likely to be picked up is the emergence of Barry Keoghan’s Joker, teased at the end of the first film. Whether he returns as the main antagonist or continues as a background force remains to be seen. There’s also speculation around Colin Farrell’s Penguin, especially as The Batman Part II’s delay will likely affect future seasons of HBO’s The Penguin spinoff.
The 2022 film grossed over US$770 million (AUD $1.17 billion) globally, reaffirming the appetite for Reeves’ noir-style Gotham and a more psychologically unravelling version of the caped crusader. But as Reeves told Esquire, Bruce’s crusade is as much about personal survival as justice: “It’s the only way he can make sense of his own life. In a way, it’s saving him”.With filming just months away, The Batman Part II is shaping up as a slow burn – one that promises to lean further into the moral ambiguity, social tension and quiet brutality that made its predecessor a genre standout.
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