- Matt Reeves has updated fans on what to expect from The Batman Part II
- The movie’s writer-director says filming will begin in late April or early May 2026
- He also teased its main villain and confirmed whether it’ll be part of the DCU
Matt Reeves has shared some new details about The Batman Part II – and all but confirmed whether his Bat-Verse will be folded into the DC Universe (DCU).
Speaking to Josh Horowitz on the 2025 Emmy Awards red carpet, the movie’s co-writer and director revealed that the Robert Pattinson-led franchise will not become part of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s nascent cinematic universe.
Responding to Horowitz’s comment that Gunn name-dropped Reeves as someone that the DC Studios co-chief would want to direct a movie set within his and Safran’s rebooted superhero franchise, Reeves said: “I’m very flattered. That’s really kind of James to say and it would be really exciting to work with him. I mean, we’re working with him on this. It’s an Elseworlds [story] but it’s still DC [a DC Studios] production], so it’s theirs [Gunn and Safran’s] as well.”
Reeves’ response will be a dagger to the hearts of fans who were hoping that The Batman Epic Crime Saga (TBECS) – that’s the official name for Reeves’ Bat-Verse – would merge with the DCU.
For months, fans have debated whether TBECS would join the DCU, and officially induct Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter-ego into Gunn and Safran’s new-look franchise. That’s in spite of a big DCU update that Gunn and Safran gave in February, which saw the former insist Pattinson wouldn’t become their universe’s Batman, too.
Last month, an unsubstantiated report suggested The Batman 2 would include one of the Dark Knight’s most famous allies in Robin, who just so happens to be part of The Brave and The Bold, aka the Batman-starring DCU Chapter One film that’s still in early development. Gunn quickly refuted that report at the time, but it did little to dampen speculation that a merger would happen.
With two Batman properties in development at DC Studios, some fans also believe general audiences might get confused about different versions of The Caped Crusader existing simultaneously on the big screen. Folding TBECS into the DCU, then, would be an easy way to solve this dilemma in the eyes of some.
Admittedly, that problem hasn’t been solved by Reeves’ latest comments on the matter. Nevertheless, they finally provide closure on the perennial debate concerning a possible merger and I, for one, am glad it’s over.
A villainous tease for the Big Bad Bat’s next foe
That wasn’t the only telling information Reeves provided about his next big-screen project.
In August, Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav revealed the cameras would start rolling on The Batman Part II in early 2026. Speaking to Horowitz, Reeves gave a more concrete answer about its production start date by saying filming would begin “at the end of April or the beginning of May”.
Then there’s the mystery about who the film’s primary antagonist will be. The Batman‘s main villain was The Riddler but, given the sheer size of the superhero’s rogues gallery, its sequel’s Big Bad could be any number of supervillains.
Predictably, Reeves wouldn’t say which of those had been chosen as the primary foe of Bruce Wayne and his superhuman alias, but teased it could be someone who’s never appeared in a live-action Batman film before.
“One of the explorations for me was to do something that pushes even further into the character of Bruce Wayne,” Reeves said. “The first story is so much about the Batman, and so I always wanted, in the movies, to make sure we get – let’s say we get to make three and I have no idea [if we will] – but if we get to make three, I always wanted the movies to focus on his character.
“Once you get past the origin tale, which we didn’t quite do, but we did something that referred to his origins, you start telling the rogues gallery story,” Reeves continued, “And I never wanted to lose Rob at the center of these stories. So, picking the right villain who digs into that, [and] goes into his past and his life, that’s what drove that discussion. I won’t say who we ended up with, but it’s never really been done in a movie before, so we’re super excited about it.”
So, who could it be? One individual who immediately springs to mind is Hush, who has major ties to Bruce Wayne in the comics? Then there’s the wealthy Gotham-based secret society named The Court of Owls. A fairly recent addition to Batman’s rogues gallery, Wayne believes they were complicit in the deaths of his parents in ‘The New 52’ revamp of DC Comics. Neither party has featured in a live-action Batman flick before and, given their links to Wayne himself, fit both criteria that Reeves alluded to.
But, what do you think? Who could The Batman 2‘s villain be? Let me know in the comments.
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