The Batman: Part II

Premise

Set during the winter after the flooding of Gotham City, Bruce Wayne / Batman investigates another case that further explores the corruption and division within the city.

Cast

Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne / Batman:A reclusive billionaire who obsessively protects Gotham City as a masked vigilante to cope with his traumatic past. Director Matt Reeves said Bruce is entering a challenging new phase as he finds it "very hard to be Batman" because he now views things as more morally grey rather than black-and-white, and that he blames himself for the city's desperation in the aftermath of its flooding.

Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon: An ally of Batman in the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD)

Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth: Batman's butler, mentor, and father figure. Serkis said Alfred and Batman remain "slightly at odds" but become closer with each other.

Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb / The Penguin: A disfigured crime boss who rose to power following the death of kingpin Carmine Falcone

Sebastian Stan as Harvey Dent: Gotham's district attorney. Stan described portraying the character as having "many roles" due to his disfigured alter ego, Two-Face.

Scarlett Johansson as Gilda Dent: Harvey's wife

Charles Dance as Charles Dent: Harvey's abusive and alcoholic father

Supporting cast members returning from The Batman include Jayme Lawson as Bella Reál, the new mayor of Gotham City, and Gil Perez-Abraham as Martinez, a GCPD officer. Sebastian Koch and Brian Tyree Henry have also been cast in undisclosed roles. Barry Keoghan is also expected to reprise his role as the Joker, an enemy of Batman who is incarcerated in Arkham State Hospital.

Production

Development

Warner Bros. Pictures intended for the standalone DC Comics–based film The Batman (2022) to start a new trilogy of Batman films by May 2019. Some cast members were signed on for future installments by that November, including Colin Farrell, who was attached to portray the Penguin in three Batman films. By September 2021, The Batman co-writer and director Matt Reeves and his producing partner Dylan Clark had plans for that film to start its own shared universe focused on the character Batman, which they referred to as the "Batman Epic Crime Saga". This would remain separated from the concurrent DC Extended Universe (DCEU) franchise and its version of the character, portrayed by Ben Affleck. Reeves had suggested to studio executives during production of The Batman that a sequel could further explore the Penguin, but they instead wanted to use that idea for a spin-off television series, The Penguin (2024), which would set up a sequel. Leading up to The Batman's release, Clark said it would establish what potential sequels could expand upon, while Reeves and star Robert Pattinson expressed interest in a sequel introducing Batman's sidekick Robin and featuring supervillains such as the Court of Owls, Calendar Man, Mr. Freeze, or Hush.

In April 2022, Discovery, Inc. merged with WarnerMedia, the owner of DC and Warner Bros., to form Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), led by president and CEO David Zaslav. The new company was expected to restructure DC Entertainment, and Zaslav began searching for an equivalent to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to lead the new subsidiary. A sequel to The Batman was announced to be in development at the Warner Bros. CinemaCon panel later that month, when Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich said the "entire team" would return from the first film, including Reeves as writer and director and Pattinson as the star. Negotiations for Reeves's return had lasted longer than expected because a deal was not guaranteed under the new Warner Bros. Discovery leadership, but he signed his production company 6th & Idaho Productions to an overall film production deal with Warner Bros. Pictures in August that included his work on the sequel to The Batman. This deal was seen as a reassurance that the studio was committed to supporting filmmakers, following the shelving of the nearly completed DCEU film Batgirl. Clark and Mattson Tomlin, an uncredited writer on The Batman, returned to work with Reeves on the sequel as a producer and co-writer, respectively. Reeves and Tomlin wanted to elevate the sequel from the first film and were expected to start writing in the following weeks.

In October 2022, Reeves was meeting with writers and directors for several film and television series spin-offs from The Batman that were in early development alongside the sequel and centered on members of Batman's rogues gallery, such as Scarecrow, Clayface, and Professor Pyg. Later that month, writer and director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran, who had both worked on multiple DCEU projects, were hired to serve as the co-chairmen and co-CEOs of the new subsidiary DC Studios. They began overseeing all DC Comics adaptations moving forward, including Reeves's The Batman sequel, which was not expected to be released until 2025 at the earliest, while Reeves continued work on the script. In November, Zaslav said there would not be multiple versions of Batman moving forward, while Reeves, Gunn, and Safran subsequently discussed how they could avoid their plans from clashing. The latter two briefly considered integrating Pattinson's Batman into DC Studio's main franchise, the DC Universe (DCU), which Gunn initially denied, but they respected Reeves's decision to keep his plans separate from the DCU.

Pre-production

In August 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery announced the start of pre-production on The Batman: Part II and that filming would commence within the first few months of 2026, while casting was scheduled to start in late 2025. Journalist Jeff Sneider reported that the character Robin was featured in the script, which Gunn denied. Reeves stated in September that he expected to start filming around the end of April or the beginning of May 2026. He added that while The Batman was focused on Batman's vigilante identity, Part II would center on his Bruce Wayne alter ego more than prior Batman films because of the mystery and detective story, for which Reeves decided to feature an antagonist that had not been used in previous live-action feature films. Production designer Luke Hull was hired at the end of October. He was location scouting by late November, particularly at Glasgow Cathedral and Anderston railway station in Glasgow, Scotland. Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, who previously shot an advertisement for the virtual reality game Batman: Arkham Shadow (2024), was hired in early December, after Fraser was unable to return due to his commitments to The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event (2028). Gunn and Safran were also attatched to produce the film for DC Studios, alongside Reeves's 6th & Idaho partner, Lynn Harris.

Scarlett Johansson entered final negotiations to join the cast in early December 2025. Due to her busy schedule, she first adjusted her earlier commitments to the film The Exorcist: Martyrs (2027) to accommodate the schedule for The Batman: Part II. The start of filming was pushed back to the end of May 2026. Johansson was reported to be portraying Gilda Gold, the wife of Harvey Dent, who was expected to be a love interest or an antagonist of Batman. Johansson had reportedly been looking for a darker role after portraying typically heroic characters—such as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in the rivaling Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise from 2010 to 2021—and she began vigorously pursuing the part after Emma Stone declined an offer. Johansson had potentially agreed to a reduced salary upfront in exchange for back-end compensation based on the film's financial performance. Casting was underway for the major roles of Harvey Dent and his abusive and alcoholic father Christopher Dent, while the character Doctor Arkham was also reported to have a small role. Reeves had reportedly approached Brad Pitt to portray Harvey's father before a scheduling conflict arose with his commitments to the film The Riders. Sebastian Stan, who portrayed Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier in the MCU alongside Johansson, entered negotiations to portray Harvey Dent in January 2026, at which point Barry Keoghan was expected to reprise his role as the Joker, after briefly appearing in The Batman.

Filming

Second unit filming and a technical recce took place at the old Birkenhead Tunnel and St George's Hall, Liverpool, starting on May 20, 2026, featuring vehicles with GCPD decals and yellow taxi cabs. Principal photography commenced on June 12, following multiple delays while Reeves meticulously worked on the script. Filming is primarily taking place on sound stages at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, with cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, while exterior location shooting occurs throughout London and Liverpool, England, as well as in Glasgow, Scotland. The production uses the working title Semper Vigilans, which was believed to be a reference to the Court of Owls. Eleven weeks of filming are scheduled to take place at night. Farrell was set to film his scenes during the first two weeks in July. In the middle of July, the release date was further delayed to February 18, 2028, to allow more time for the post-production process. Filming took place around the old Birkenhead Tunnel and within the Liverpool City Region during the week of July 20, before shooting on the Silver Jubilee Bridge in Runcorn, Cheshire. Three weeks of filming commenced on August 18 in the Glasgow city centre, taking place at the Broomielaw, the Glasgow Bridge, the Kingston Bridge, North Street, and the National Cycle Route 75 along the River Clyde. Serkis will start shooting his scenes by the end of 2026, after filming The Hunt for Gollum.

Music

Reeves confirmed in July 2026 that he intended for Michael Giacchino to return from The Batman to compose the score for Part II.

Marketing

On May 7, 2026, Reeves released two camera test photos featuring the Batmobile in winter conditions. Casey Loving at TheWrap highlighted the change in setting from The Batman, which he likened to the Christmas setting of Batman Returns (1992), and noted the Batmobile's design upgrades. Reeves engaged with fans responding to the photos and reposted Tony S. Daniel and Tomeu Morey's cover art for the "Beasts of Burden" storyline from Batman vol. 3 #57, depicting Batman trekking through snow and covered in blood. That storyline features the KGBeast and the apparent death of Batman's sidekick, Dick Grayson. The winter setting and comic art led to speculation that the characters Mr. Freeze and Robin could appear. Kennedy French of Variety stated that while the context of the test photos "remain[ed] murky", they made it "clear that the long-gestating sequel is finally moving [forward]". Over the course of two days later that month, Reeves announced the cast members through various social media posts, featuring GIFs of the returning actors from The Batman and of the new cast using footage from some of their earlier film appearances. The social media rollout was compared to the similarly hours-long cast announcement livestream for the MCU film Avengers: Doomsday (2026), though William Goodman at GQ felt it was "less arduous". Nick Romano at Entertainment Weekly noted that the use of GIFs was a "very Reeves move, coming with individually wrapped notes for each star". Justin Carter at Gizmodo felt Reeves's "more down-to-earth approach" allowed him to directly communicate with fans while alleviating concerns about the film's long development. Consequence's Ben Kaye speculated that Reeves's GIF choices indicated which roles the actors were portraying. When the delayed February 2028 release date was announced in July, Reeves released a camera test video with a first look at Pattinson in the film's Batsuit. Loving again highlighted the winter aesthetics.

Release

The Batman: Part II is scheduled to be theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on February 18, 2028, in IMAX, as part of the "DC Elseworlds" label. The film was originally scheduled for release on October 3, 2025, but it was delayed numerous times due to different factors. After an initial delay to October 2, 2026, due to the 2023 Hollywood strikes, it was further shifted to October 1, 2027, to allow more time for writing, before settling on the February 2028 date to allocate additional time during post-production.