The cast of The Batman Part II is multiplying at a rapid pace.
This week, director Matt Reeves confirmed on social media that Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, Brian Tyree Henry, and Sebastian Koch would be joining the highly anticipated sequel film. They’ll team up with original cast members Robert Pattinson, Jeffrey Wright, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell.
In 2022, Reeves’ inaugural version of The Batman helped jumpstart the post-COVID-19 box office with $369 million domestic and $772 million worldwide. Critics were enraptured by Pattinson’s darker, grittier, noir-style caped crusader, giving the DC Studios movie an 85 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a 72 score on Metacritic — not too shabby for a comic-book character who’s been skulking around Gotham City since 1939.
With every successful blockbuster comes the inevitable sequel announcement, and The Batman was no different. But ever since being green-lit by Warner Bros. in April 2022, the follow-up has been hampered with production hiccups and delays. Read on for everything to know about The Batman 2.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT
The studio revealed at 2022 Comic-Con that Pattinson is returning as reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne, who fights crime as the gruff-voiced Batman. Reeves and Mattson Tomlin are co-writing the film, and Reeves returns as the director. “Matt took one of our most iconic and beloved superheroes and delivered a fresh vision,” then-Warner Bros. studio boss Toby Emmerich said. “Matt Reeves, Rob Pattinson, and the entire team will be taking audiences back to Gotham with The Batman 2.”
THE CAST
Four cast members from The Batman are returning for the sequel: Pattinson (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Wright (Commissioner James “Jim” Gordon), Serkis (Alfred Pennyworth), and Farrell (Oz Cobb / Penguin).
As of this writing, the newbies include Stan, Johansson, Henry, and Koch, but it’s unknown at this time who they will be playing within the world of The Batman Part II. Reeves announced each of their hirings on social media by “welcoming” them to the team:
FILMING DELAYS
Initially, the sequel was set to begin principal photography in November 2023, but it was pushed back because of the dual Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes. In February 2025, Pattinson told Deadline that The Batman 2 would start shooting “at the end of the year,” but that was delayed as well.
On June 27, 2025, Reeves and Tomlin posted the blurred-out title page of the Batman 2 script on Instagram along with the caption, “Partners in Crime (Fighters),” confirming the script was finished. In May 2026, Reeves revealed that filming had finally begun and even teased set photos of the Batmobile driving through snow.
RELEASE DATE
After originally securing a theatrical release date of Oct. 2, 2026, The Batman 2 was pushed back a full year to Oct. 1, 2027, to give it more time. The new Alejandro González Iñárritu and Tom Cruise movie Digger scooped up that 2026 calendar date instead. “Matt is committed to making the best film he possibly can, and no one can accurately guess exactly how long a script will take to write,” DC Studios co-chief James Gunn said in December 2024 about the holdup. “Once there is a finished script, there is around two years for pre-production, shooting, and post-production on big films.”
TITLE CHANGE
In January 2023, the sequel was initially titled The Batman: Part II. That didn’t last long, because it was deemed “untitled” in December 2024. The official title has yet to be announced. Note that previous Batman movie sequels within the DC universe did not include numbers in their titles, and were instead called Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995), Batman & Robin (1997), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
WHO ELSE HAS PLAYED BATMAN?
Pattinson follows in a long line of Batman actors who’ve appeared on the big screen, including Lewis Wilson (1943), Robert Lowery (1949), Adam West (1966), Michael Keaton (1989-92), Val Kilmer (1995), George Clooney (1997), Christian Bale (2005-12), and Ben Affleck (2016-21). Scroll through our gallery below of all of the modern-day Batman movies ranked.
‘Batman’ movies ranked worst to best
This item was originally published June 27, 2025; it was updated May 15 with new information.
‘Batman’ movies ranked worst to best
