The Batman 2 is now officially confirmed, and it has a release date too! Director Matt Reeves and Robert Pattison confirmed to be returning for the sequel. Which is great news for anyone who left The Batman thinking three hours just isn't enough of the latest version of The Caped Crusader.
Matt Reeves and the cast have been speaking about the next adventures of The Batman, but so far we don't know a great deal about the movie other than the fact it's happening. Maybe some future Riddler codes can enlighten us?
So, let's break down everything we know about The Batman 2, based on all of the hints, secrets and interviews that have come out since. Step into our bat-cave, won't you? Oh, and ... this is your spoiler warning.
The Batman 2 release date announced
Alongside the reveal of the first 10 DCU movies and shows, we found out that The Batman 2 is coming Oct. 3, 2025. This follows the original bread crumb we were given. When Comicbook.com's Brandon Davis interviewed The Batman producer Dylan Clark, the latter stated "I will go on record," Clark said, "and say that it will be less than five years."
And this certainly matches that.
We also learned that The Batman 2 will have the Elseworlds branding, as all non-DCU movies and shows will.
That's good news to some, but we feel like 4-plus years is a long time to wait.
If this all sounds too vague? That's the point. Clark told Comic Book Movie that all of the sequel talk is "a little bit premature," for the team, as they're "really focused on getting this movie seen on the big screen by as many people around the globe, and they’ll hopefully all say very loudly that they want more."
Well mission accomplished. The Batman made $760 million at the global box office, and Deadline reports 4.1 million people watched the movie within a week of its HBO Max debut. That's more than any other blockbuster that hit the service.
The Batman 2 characters and villains speculation
If Selina Kyle is headed to Bludhaven, there's good reason to think we could see the introduction of Nightwing in The Batman 2, since that's where he operates out of. How Reeves would pull that off? Well, we're not sure.
But sometimes rumors come straight from the source. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Robert Pattinson said he was thinking about one of Batman's best nemeses — that hasn't made it to the movies yet — for The Batman 2. Those villains, known as The Court Of Owls, are relatively new to Batman, first appearing in the comics in Scott Snyder's 2011 time writing Batman.
Here's what Pattinson said, and what his co-star Paul Dano chimed in with:
Pattinson: "I was definitely kind of thinking Court of Owls is probably gonna be in the sequel."
Dano: "Oooh, don’t say it."
Pattinson: "It definitely seems like— I mean, I am literally just guessing, I just keep saying it."
Dano: "Court of Owls would be dope. Good thing it’s not in this film."
Kravitz: "Or is it?"
Dano: "Or is it?"
The Court of Owls, if you don't know, were a mysterious organized crime group that had deep ties to Gotham.
But then, there's also what director Matt Reeves wants. Reeves told Collider that he's interested in making his own version of Mr. Freeze, saying "In my view, I just feel drawn to finding the grounded version of everything. So to me it would be a challenge in an interesting way to try and figure out how that could happen, even the idea of something like Mr. Freeze, that such a great story, right? I think there's actually a grounded version of that story, which could be really powerful and could be really great."
On top of that, there's been rumblings that rataalada.com, the movie's interactive game site, has been hinting that the comics villain Hush could make an appearance. We can't get the game to work properly to confirm this.
The Batman 2 cast speculation
Right now, it's impossible to see a new Robert Pattinson-led The Batman 2 without Pattinson as Bruce Wayne, Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred, Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Colin Farrell as Penguin and Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/The Riddler.
We also expect Jayme Lawson to return as Gotham's new mayor Bella Reál.
Outside of those five? Well, we think we saw a joker in the jail, and we know who it is.
Matt Reeves told IGN that Barry Keoghan is the man who was sitting in the jail cell next to The Riddler's. And since that prisoner says "One day you're on top, the next day you’re a clown," we're all supposed to think that is, in fact, the Joker.
And rataalada.com, the ARG site promoting The Batman to fans, has a new tease up its proverbial sleeve, which hints at The Joker in The Batman 2, collaborating with The Riddler.
The Batman 2: What we want
So, Batman vs The Riddler, The Joker and The Penguin seems all teed up. But then, of course, you've also got this Hush rumor, and Reeves' interest in Mr. Freeze. But there's another character that's gone unmentioned above that we would love to see in The Batman 2. Poison Ivy herself, Pamela Isley.
This is partially because The Batman was a very heavily male-filled movie. Women in Gotham barely had much time to speak, unless they were Catwoman.
We're sure that the good doctor could be interpreted in a grounded, realistic manner that Reeves is favoring for these movies. On top of that, Ivy could create an interesting love triangle between Catwoman and Batman.
That's not just because she could attract Bruce Wayne, but because Zoë Kravitz told Pedestrian that she's interpreted Kyle as bisexual. Specifically, Kravitz said that she thought Kyle and Anika "had some kind of romantic relationship."
Relatedly, I'm a little concerned about how The Batman will look on HBO Max at home.
