Crime doesn’t rest, but the Caped Crusader will have to. Following a delay to 2028 and three months into production, The Batman Part II has halted filming as director-writer Matt Reeves steps away for personal reasons.
“Production on The Batman Part II has been temporarily paused while Matt Reeves focuses on a family matter,” a Warner Bros. statement reads (via Deadline). “Matt has the full support of DC Studios, and we look forward to continuing the journey soon.”
There’s no word on how long the pause will last or whether the film’s release date is affected, but one thing’s for sure — whatever family matter Reeves is dealing with must be important, and the feelings of impatience and negativity that come with this development shouldn’t take priority over the filmmaker’s well-being. Reeves is also producing the highly anticipated sequel to the 2022 superhero pic, originally scheduled to debut on 3 October 2025 and subsequently pushed back twice: first to 1 October 2027, then to 18 February 2028.
Returning to don the cowl is Robert Pattinson, joined by Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb/The Penguin. New additions include Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, Charles Dance, Sebastian Koch, and Brian Tyree Henry, while Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman won’t be coming back. While story details remain under wraps, test shots showing the Batmobile driving through the snow hint at a winter setting, with Reeves previously teasing that The Batman Part II will focus more on the character of Bruce Wayne since “the first is so focused on Batman”.
After the first delay, DC Studios co-head James Gunn defended the push by highlighting that the years-long gap between blockbuster sequels is “fairly common. “To be fair, a 5-year gap or more is fairly common in sequels. 7 years between Alien and Aliens. 14 years between Incredibles. 7 years between the first two Terminators. 13 years between Avatars. 36 years between Top Guns. And of course, 6 years between Guardians Vol 2 and Vol 3,” he wrote on Threads.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
