The Batman: Part II, Matt Reeves’ upcoming sequel to his 2022 blockbuster reboot of the DC superhero, has cast Scarlett Johansson in an unconfirmed role, and signed Sebastian Stan to appear as Harvey Dent, the District Attorney whose alliance with Batman eventually leads to his becoming the villain Two-Face.
Robert Pattinson stars in “The Batman”
Source: Warner Bros.
The Batman: Part II – Scarlett Johansson In Major Role?
Reports of Johansson’s casting don’t confirm a specific role, but considering Stan is playing Dent, I am guessing she’s portraying Harvey wife Gilda Dent, who plays a significant role in the best-selling comic book story arc The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sales. The comic story is among the potential influences for the movie’s plot.
In that case, we could get a showcase of Gotham’s villains within a larger noir story about a serial killer stalking Gotham (in this context, continuing the work started by the Riddler in 2022’s The Batman) and the alliance between Batman, Lieutenant Jim Gordon, and DA Harvey Dent. Of course, even if the film takes inspiration from The Long Halloween, it will surely be significantly changed and an original tale, so it’s smart to avoid assuming anything, regardless of source material.
Other potential roles Johansson could be tackling include Silver St. Cloud, or perhaps Martha Wayne if the story delves into the various mysteries in the Wayne family history. Alternately, if the story has a twist and includes Dick Grayson’s origin story as Robin, perhaps Johansson is portraying Mary Grayson.
Sebastian Stan is specifically cast as Harvey Dent, so he might not take his villainous turn in The Batman: Part II, remaining a DA and possible ally to Batman. Two-Face is inevitable, but could appear in a later film or miniseries if he doesn’t show up in Part II.
The two Marvel Avengers alums join the cast about 13 weeks before The Batman: Part II is expected to start shooting at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in the UK.
Returning to his role as the Joker is Barry Keoghan, and Paul Dano is also whispered to reprise his role as the Riddler. Colin Farrell likewise returns as the Penguin. Absent from Part II’s festivities, however, are Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman and Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone, and both the performers and characters will be dearly missed.
The Batman: Part II – By The Numbers
Reeves’ The Batman: Part II has tremendous potential to become another breakout hit similar to 2008’s The Dark Knight, which was the first superhero film to top $1 billion in global box office. The Dark Knight accomplished that feat after its predecessor Batman Begins took $375 million in 2005, representing a big leap into top-tier box office territory for the franchise. 2022’s The Batman grossed $772 million during Covid and wound up the year’s seventh-biggest release.
The anticipation for The Batman: Part II has grown even stronger in the aftermath of the record-setting and Emmy-winning HBO spinoff miniseries The Penguin, which bridges the first and second of Reeves’ The Batman Epic Crime Saga. That series, and subsequent word of additional shows in the same universe being developed (including an even more eager go-ahead for additional projects from incoming owners Netflix, apparently), helped maintain the buzz around the rebooted franchise and its financial and critical success after the previous DCEU ended to inglorious results in 2023.
Expectations are high for The Batman: Part II as part of 2027’s crucial year of sequels, including Man of Tomorrow as a follow-up to last year’s must-see Superman (both films written and directed by DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn). Reeves’ Part II could do $1 billion business, and while that isn’t the bar for success it is certainly on everyone’s mind and wish-list. Should both films play to potential, it will be a very good year for DC cinema.
Should The Batman sequel do big business while Man of Tomorrow finishes in the mid-tier (say $700-800 million) then the latter will still be a success and all signs would be good for DCU’s future, but it might lead the studio to second-guess the choice not to merge the two franchises as a sort of “do over” of the 2013 decision not to merge Man of Steel into The Dark Knight cinematic universe. Of course, if they announced such a merger today, and then the films still performed as described above, then many people would surely suggest that merging the franchises was responsible for causing Man of Tomorrow to underperform.
No word yet on Brave and the Bold, the Batman and Robin team-up movie that is expected to feature an ensemble of the Bat-Family characters. It and It: Welcome to Derry co-creator/director Andy Muchietti and screenwriter Christina Hodson are working on that project, and while fans are anxious for any updates, DC Studios isn’t in a hurry, with plenty of DCU projects on the way the next two years – Supergirl and Clayface this year, the latter introducing the DCU version of Batman’s Gotham City, and The Batman: Part II plus Man of Tomorrow next year.
The Batman: Part II’s imminent production start should mean we’ll start hearing more official confirmations soon, to get ahead of leaks and as set photos and other information makes its way into the press and public. Hopefully we’ll hear more soon.