When it comes to the caped crusader, not all films are created equal. While some have cemented their place in the history of cinema with stellar performances and chilling characters – most notably among them the late Heath Ledger’s Joker – others have only led audiences to question just how such a thing came to be made. When it comes to The Batman, fans of the franchise were sceptical. Certainly the direction taken by Matt Reeves with its more grungy, detective origins proved fascinating, but with new actors in the mix the criticism came quickly. Naturally though, you only had to see the final product to understand that this was a film that had struck on something significant, offering a portrayal that was new and exciting. Already, the film has passed $600 million worldwide at the box office, proving that Batman continues to be one of the most popular marquee characters on the planet.
But where there is success, there is often a sequel and talk of The Batman 2 has already begun. Director Matt Reeves took an interesting approach with the film in that he forewent the traditional origin story in which the audience sees how Bruce’s parents die and how he overcomes his fear to adopt the image of a bat. Rather, we were presented with an experienced Batman, a man who is already in his second year. As Reeves explained on the Happy Sad Confused podcast: “I don’t want that character to become a cypher. I don’t want to be like, ‘Okay, so we saw it wasn’t an origin tale, but you know what, that was kind of [Batman’s] origins and now he’s just perfect.”
Reeves added, “You need to test the character again and again and again. And for me, yeah, there might be something in that. I don’t know. There’s a deep-dive that already happened at the beginning and now I’m gonna have to deep-dive again if we have the chance to make another one and so we shall see.”
Is that confirmation of a sequel? That remains to be seen. Here’s everything we know about the potential for a Batman 2.
What will Batman 2 be about?
Some have suggested that Batman 2 could see Robin join the fold, however Reeves has responded to this by saying, “Maybe. We’ll just say maybe. I don’t know, I don’t know.”
There also remain a number of characters who are still in play, including Colin Farrell’s Penguin, Paul Dano’s Riddler, Zoe Kravitz’s Selena (Catwoman), and Barry Keoghan’s Joker.
When is the Batman 2 coming out?
While there’s yet to be any confirmation of a sequel, it seems inevitable that such a thing will occur. After all, Warner Bros are projected to receive a $700 million payout from the film. As Reeves explained on the podcast, “Here’s the thing, I have a lot of ideas about what I want to do. I’m not sure what the next story is. For me, whatever that story’s going to be, it’s going to be to take these characters – and specifically Batman’s character – and put them in some kind of emotional jeopardy…There’d have to be emotional stakes to get drawn into that character’s story.”
Currently though, fans can breathe a sigh of relief as Reeves is working on expanding his Batman universe into television with an HBO Max series based around Colin Farrell’s Penguin, and a potential series on either the Gotham Police Department or Arkham Asylum.
