The Batman Announces Release Date and Time for HBO Max

HBO and HBO Max have announced the days and times The Batman will make its premiere on the premium channel and streaming service. Directed by Matt Reeves, The Batman stars Robert Pattinson (Tenet, The Lighthouse) as Gotham's Dark Knight during the early days of his crime-fighting career. The DC film has been a certified hit at the box office, with its global box office climbing past $735 million. Fans will get the chance to stream The Batman Monday, April 18 on HBO Max, with its HBO air date set for Saturday, April 23 at 8 p.m. ET.

Weeks after its release in theaters, The Batman made even more news by debuting a deleted scene featuring Barry Keoghan's Joker speaking to Pattinson's Caped Crusader. Following the release of the scene, Reeves opened up about Joker's backstory during an interview with Variety.

"It's like Phantom of the Opera," Reeves explained. "He has a congenital disease where he can't stop smiling and it's horrific. His face is half-covered through most of the film."

"It's not about some version where he falls into a vat of chemicals and his face is distorted, or what [Christopher] Nolan did, where there's some mystery to how he got these scars carved into his face," the director added. "What if this guy from birth had this disease and he was cursed? He had this smile that people stared at that was grotesque and terrifying. Even as a child, people looked at him with horror, and his response was to say, 'Okay, so a joke was played on me,' and this was his nihilistic take on the world."

A description of The Batman reads, "When a killer targets Gotham City's elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World's Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle, The Penguin, Carmine Falcone and The Riddler. As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator's plans becomes clear, The Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City."

Starring alongside Pattinson are Zoë Kravitz (Big Little Lies, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald) as Selina Kyle; Paul Dano (Love & Mercy, 12 Years a Slave) as Edward Nashton, aka The Riddler; Jeffrey Wright (No Time to Die, Westworld) as the GCPD's James Gordon; John Turturro (the Transformers films, The Plot Against America) as Carmine Falcone; Peter Sarsgaard (The Magnificent Seven, Interrogation) as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson; Jayme Lawson (Farewell Amor) as mayoral candidate Bella Reál; with Andy Serkis (the Planet of the Apes films, Black Panther) as Alfred; and Colin Farrell (The Gentlemen, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) as Oz, aka The Penguin.