Andy Serkis Hypes The Batman - Part II as a Massive, Audacious Swing for DC

If you thought waiting for a sequel couldn’t get any longer, think again—Matt Reeves is officially taking his sweet time with The Batman - Part II. It's been four years since Robert Pattinson donned the cowl for Reeves' moody, downpour-drenched detective drama, and only now are new details starting to leak out about where this version of Gotham goes next.

What's Actually Going On With This Sequel?

So here's the deal: ever since James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios, basically every project at Warner Bros. with a cape either got cancelled, rebooted, or thrown into limbo. Somehow, Reeves' "Batman" movies survived the purge. Sure, there were hiccups (and huge delays), but the follow-up is still happening, even if it’s moving at glacier speed.

One big reason everyone’s side-eyeing the timeline: the original plan rolled out a year or two ago, and then the whole DC universe reshuffling started. Gunn and Safran announced their big shared-universe plans, including a new Batman down the road for the DCU proper. Reeves' version, meanwhile, is sticking with its own continuity—the so-called ‘Elseworlds’ corner of DC’s suddenly splintered multiverse. If that's confusing, trust me, you’re not alone.

Cast Updates (And A Few Rumors)

Let's get to the cast, which is where it gets interesting. Early internet rumors had names like Brad Pitt floating around. Those didn’t stick. Scarlett Johansson actually locked in a role, though, so she’ll be showing up in Gotham this time out. Oh, and Sebastian Stan—yep, Marvel's own Winter Soldier—is reportedly signing on as Harvey Dent. That’s about as much real confirmation as you’ll get for now. Oh, Hollywood.

• Returning: Robert Pattinson (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Colin Farrell (Penguin, who’s also got his own HBO spin-off), Andy Serkis (Alfred)
• New: Scarlett Johansson (role undisclosed, for now), Sebastian Stan (Harvey Dent)
• Still rumor territory: Brad Pitt (don’t hold your breath)

The Story (Or, What Little We Know)

Reeves is famously secretive, so the plot for Part II is locked up tight. The one thing he keeps hinting at: he wants a villain who hasn’t had the Hollywood treatment yet. That probably kills your hopes for another Joker or Riddler round, though who knows. The first movie ended with Gotham basically under water, thanks to Paul Dano’s Riddler. Infrastructure’s wrecked. Plenty of room for a power vacuum, and you’d assume Farrell’s Penguin character will be making a play for the big chair.

Serkis Speaks Up—And He’s Not Spoiling Much

Andy Serkis has been out talking up his new "Animal Farm" movie, but everyone just wants to grill him about Batman. On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Serkis called the new script a 'huge swing' and said the movie is 'deeper, darker, and more emotional' than the first. Which, if you saw the first, is raising the bar for bleakness pretty high.

'[Matt Reeves] and I worked on the Planet of the Apes movies together first of all, and we developed a very strong friendship, and actually one of the themes that sort of link us is his relationship to fatherhood. So his is always an emotional approach, and he took a very emotional approach to Batman. In the first film, the relationship between Alfred and Batman is quite an emotional one. And that notion of father is important going back to your original [Apes]. It’s very present for us both, so I’ll be interested to see if that develops in this one.'

Here’s the kicker though: due to the endless pre-production drama, Serkis actually doesn’t even know where things stand with the script anymore. He admitted, in a separate chat with Den of Geek, 'I read a script a long way back, but I know it’s evolved and changed since, so I have no idea where it is at the moment.' Not exactly reassuring. But he’s got faith in Reeves, and their creative shorthand goes way back to their monkey-suit days.

Turtle Pace: Release Date and Where This All Fits In DC’s Big Picture

Now for the rough news: The Batman - Part II won’t hit theaters until October 2027. That’s five-plus years since the last outing. In Hollywood sequel terms these days, that’s basically an entire presidential administration.

And while this slow-burn Gotham epic trudges forward, DC’s future is as muddy as ever. There’s another, different Batman set to debut in Gunn and Safran’s interconnected DCU, reportedly in “The Brave and the Bold”—not to be confused with Reeves' "Epic Crime Saga" thing. No clue if those plans are pushing Reeves’ timeline back or if they're planning on running multiple Batmen at the same time until everyone forgets who's playing who. (I give it two years before someone greenlights the Multiverse Batman Family Reunion.)

Bottom line: The Batman - Part II is inching forward through a field of Hollywood quicksand, but at least we’ll eventually see Pattinson, Farrell, and crew going 'deeper, darker, and more emotional.' If you liked the first one’s grimy take on Gotham, just hang tight—you’ve got a while to wait, but at least they’re still making it.