The Batman 2 Officially Announced

The Batman Sequel (aka The Batman 2) has been officially announced, as part of Warner Bros. and DC’s presentation at CinemaCon 2022. It’s not altogether a huge surprise: The Batman has earned over $750 million at the worldwide box office; sparked the biggest first-week debut for HBO Max’s streaming service, and has firmly cemented Robert Pattinson as Batman, and writer/director Matt Reeves as the architect of an entire new Batman Universe. 

Toby Emmerich officially confirmed director Matt Reeves will return for The Batman 2 at CinemaCon. “One film that unquestionably hit that sweet spot this year was Matt Reeves, The Batman,” said Emmerich.

“Matt took one of our most iconic and beloved superheroes and delivered a fresh vision that clearly resonated with audiences and with your incredible support, shattered box office records around the world, which is one of the reasons I’m excited to break the news that Matt, Rob Pattinson and the whole team will be taking audiences back to Gotham with The Batman 2,” Emmerich continued.

“I just want to echo what Toby said and thank you all for your tremendous support for The Batman,” Reeves said. “We could have gotten here without the faith enthusiasm and hard work. Of everyone in this room and your amazing teams here around the world. Every part of this journey has been thrilling for me as a filmmaker and a huge fan of this character and I’m excited to jump back into this world for the next chapter.”

So what will The Batman 2 Be About? 

The ending of The Batman (and its post-credits reveals) has set up no one but many paths for The Batman 2 to follow. Already, fans have jumped on Easter eggs and deleted scenes that tease The Joker (Barry Keoghan), evil mastermind Hush, and possibly even Batman’s nemesis Bane. There’s also the clear issue of Gotham City being left isolated and in a state of destruction after Riddler’s terrorist acts, setting up storylines like the famous “No Man’s Land” arc. 

As The Batman was hitting theaters, both Robert Pattinson and Matt Reeves seemed to be toying with one particular lane of Batman lore to explore in a sequel: the Court of Owls. That nefarious cabal is made up of some of Gotham’s oldest and wealthiest families, who operate like an occult-influenced Illuminati, controlling the fate of Gotham – and even Batman’s place in it. Given all the story threads The Batman introduced about Bruce Wayne’s wealth, privilege, and whether “Batman” is the most effective avenue for those assets, Court of Owls would indeed be a fun way to continue those themes in a compelling way. 

The Batman Spinoff Series

Currently, there are two confirmed TV series spinoffs for The Batman franchise. 

The Penguin – Colin Farrell was such a breakout hit as Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot in The Batman that Warner Bros. is giving him his own spinoff series on HBO Max. The Penguin series was originally going to be the story for The Batman 2, but ended up being spun off into the show concept. Reeves has compared it to Scarface, charting Penguin’s rise to power in the vacuum left after the death of his boss, Carmine Falcone. 

Arkham Series – Warner Bros. decided to change focus on their original spinoff series idea about the GCPD, instead choosing to look in at the infamous Arkham Asylum. It’s been teased as a more horror-themed series, about the various people and stories at Arkham. 

The Batman is now out on HBO Max and streaming services.