The Batman: Robert Pattinson Has Perfect Response to Sequel Delays

The Batman star Robert Pattinson has a great response to the sequel’s many delays, jokingly saying he’ll be near the end of his acting career by the time director Matt Reeves’ planned trilogy wraps up. The actor is set to reprise his role as Bruce Wayne in the upcoming The Batman Part II, which is currently set for a 2026 release. However, the film has encountered numerous hurdles during development, which Pattinson briefly touched on in a wide-ranging profile in The New York Times.

“I could genuinely be retiring by the end of them,” Pattinson said, alluding to how long it’s taking for The Batman Part II to get off the ground.

Released in March 2022, The Batman was an immediate hit, grossing $772.3 million worldwide and earning positive reviews. Warner Bros. wasted no time in confirming a sequel, officially announcing the follow-up in April 2022. Since then, The Batman Part II has lingered in the pre-production phase. While TV series The Penguin scored another victory for Reeves’ “Batman Epic Crime Saga” this year, the franchise’s next film has been slow-moving. The Batman Part II still doesn’t have a completed script, and star Jeffrey Wright (who plays Jim Gordon) recently shared he hasn’t talked to Reeves for a while.

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As Reeves and Co. get things sorted on The Batman Part II, Pattinson is signing on for other high-profile jobs. The actor is reuniting with his Tenet director Christopher Nolan on the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s new mystery project, scheduled to premiere in July 2026. Pattinson is said to be one of the leads in Nolan’s movie, which is targeting “the first half of 2025” to begin production.

Pattinson’s comment is very tongue-in-cheek, but it underscores the frustratingly long wait for The Batman Part II. Assuming the film keeps its current October 2026 release date, Pattinson will be 40 years old by the time audiences see him don the cape and cowl again. That’s nowhere near retirement age, but, as a comparison, Christian Bale was 38 when he concluded his Batman tenure in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises. Pattinson will likely have one more Batman film after Part II, which could take him into his mid-40s. When Pattinson was cast back in 2019, the idea was he was young enough to portray an inexperienced Batman in the early days of crime-fighting. Now, he’s almost age-appropriate to play a grizzled veteran Caped Crusader a la Ben Affleck.

At one point, the plan was for The Batman Part II to film in early 2025, but that’s becoming increasingly unlikely — especially with Pattinson’s gig in Nolan’s new film. That doesn’t mean its release date will have to get pushed back again; Reeves could seemingly shoot The Batman Part II in the second half of 2025 after Pattinson wraps the Nolan movie. But things will have to move quickly for that to happen. Hopefully, Reeves finalizes a script soon.