At long last, The Batman Part II is finally gearing up to start production. It’s been over four years since Robert Pattinson made his debut as the latest cinematic Dark Knight, but enthusiasm for the sequel hasn’t waned. The Batman Part II is one of the most anticipated blockbusters on the horizon, and the cast is a big reason why. In addition to several returning faces from The Batman, the franchise has added some heavy hitters in the form of Marvel stars Sebastian Stan and Scarlett Johansson. The former is playing a new iteration of Harvey Dent, and as his training gets underway, he’s looking forward to the experience.
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Speaking with Deadline, Stan teased what fans can expect from The Batman Part II. “I feel like it’s a really ambitious movie and I think if we do it all right — and obviously I’m so excited about Matt Reeves [directing] because he’s been one of my favorites for a long, long time — I really think it’s going to blow people away,” he said. “It’s going to surprise a lot of people, I think, too.”
Additionally, Rise Movement shared a video on Instagram of Stan preparing to train for his role in the comic book sequel. Check it out below:
Can The Batman Part II Make the Long Wait Worth It?
With multiple release date shifts and a script that took years to come to fruition, at times it’s been a frustrating wait for The Batman Part II. For a moment, some DC fans were even convinced that the film had been cancelled. Fortunately, the sequel is still very much on the way, but now it’s under pressure to deliver something special, making the extended wait worth it. If The Batman Part II were to underwhelm after a five-year gap between installments, it could negatively impact feelings and the future of Matt Reeves’ Batman Epic Crime Saga. Waiting this long for the next film isn’t ideal, but fans are willing to put up with it because Reeves’ Batman projects have been great so far.
For his part, Reeves seems to understand that he needs to go the extra mile to make The Batman Part II stand out. In the past, he’s said one of his goals with the sequel is to do something that’s “never been done” in a Batman film before. With that in mind, casting Stan as Harvey Dent is a fascinating move; Dent/Two-Face, of course, has appeared in movies before. But it sounds like The Batman Part II is going to do something different with its portrayal of the character. Johansson is rumored to be playing Harvey’s wife Gilda Dent, and Charles Dance has joined the cast to portray Harvey’s father, so Reeves is planning on showing another side of Dent by highlighting character dynamics absent in other films.
Reeves is also trying to break the mold when it comes to Batman movies by keeping Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne at the story’s center. He feels that previous iterations of Batman on film focus more on the villain’s story once you get past the origin, so he intentionally picked a villain that “goes into [Bruce’s] past and his life.” Viewers got a taste of that approach in The Batman as the Riddler exposed Thomas Wayne’s corruption, forcing Bruce to confront complex feelings. It’s nice to hear this will remain intact for the sequel, and it’ll be interesting to see how the villain connects to Bruce on a personal level.
Assuming these various elements are executed as strongly as they can be (and, given Reeves’ track record, there’s little reason to doubt that), then The Batman Part II will certainly be worth the wait. In some cases, it can be better to take extra time to ensure a project is as great as possible. Striking when the iron is hot is a common practice in Hollywood, but there’s always going to be a substantial amount of interest in a new Batman film regardless of how much time has passed. Reeves wants to deliver something fans won’t forget, so he’s trying to be as ambitious as possible,
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