Happy Batman Day, everyone! To help celebrate this momentous occasion, Matt Reeves has shared the first official image of The Batman Part II, featuring a silhouette of Robert Pattinson’s Caped Crusader. The shadowy teaser comes directly from the film’s UK production, with materials being shared from Glasgow, Liverpool, and London.
It’s been several years since The Batman’s 2022 release, making today’s image reveal a bigger deal than usual. Fans are ravenous for any look at the sequel to Matt Reeves’ grounded approach to Batman, and although the new image is little more than shadows and smoke, it’s enough to get people excited about what’s to come.
Last week, Sebastian Stan, who stars in the upcoming film, compared the project to Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather: Part II, saying:
“What I’ll say is this: there’s no way people will fully grasp how this movie is until they see it,” Stan said. “I go to set sometimes and I look around and I’m like, I think we’re making f***ing ‘The Godfather Part Two.’ I feel that highly about it. Matt has spent three years working on it. There’s a lot of speculation about these roles, about what this movie is, but I think it’s going to be a good payoff — it’s really grounded and real, and that’s what I loved about it. You want to tease it a little, but we still have a long time.”
There have been conflicting reports on who Stan is playing in the sequel. Initially, it was thought he was playing Harvey Dent, and the actor seemingly confirmed that during an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche. However, subsequent reports said he was misquoted and that nothing was confirmed.
Another rumor claimed that Stan would actually be playing Victor Zsasz, the notorious serial killer who carves his skin for each person he kills.
Reeves previously teased that the sequel’s main villain hasn’t been featured in a live-action Batman movie before. Since we’ve already seen both Harvey Dent and Victor Zsasz on the big screen, Reeves’ comments either point to an elaborate misdirection or an entirely different antagonist altogether.
“I never wanted to lose Rob at the centre of these stories, so that is what we really set our aim on,” he said. “Picking the right villain that digs into what that does and goes into his past and his life, that was what drove that discussion. We’re super excited about it, and I will say, it’s never really been done in a movie before.”
Could the rumors about Stan’s part be part of an elaborate misdirection? Many things point toward him playing Harvey Dent/Two-Face, but I won’t believe it until I see it. We’ve seen Harvey Dent and Victor Zsasz in Batman movies before, so what gives? I’m not frustrated by the situation; I’m intrigued. Movies often have too much spoiled about them ahead of release. I like the idea of The Batman Part II having an air of mystery.
What do you think about the first image from the set of The Batman Part II? Are you excited to watch Reeves’s new film when it finally arrives on February 18, 2028? Let us know in the comments section below.