October sometimes feels like the longest month, and this week put all that time in perspective for Batman fans. The Batman: Part II was supposed to premiere on October 3 originally, but a number of delays and challenges moved the project back to next year.
Fans online handled the information in the exact way you would expect them to, and unfortunately I can’t blame them for being upset. A media ecosystem that’s hyper-inflated the idea of this entire industry as troubled, (often not for the right reasons!), makes every release date pushed back feel like another log on the fire.
Still, here we are in the first week of October and there’s no Batman to speak of, except for a literal avalanche of comics, games, and other depictions of The Dark Knight on-screen. Still, we’re going to walk you through the timeline of what’s gone on with director Matt Reeves’ take on The Caped Crusader in the meantime! So, let’s start our weird little diary entries like Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne does in the movie!
The Batman begins in a cloudy night
Back in March of 2022, fans were excited to see what kind of bold vision Reeves had for Gotham and it’s colorful cast of characters. Pattinson’s casting had proved to be the exact kind of attention-grabbing move to set things in motion. Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle also proved to be a big hit among the fans in the trailer’s leading up to The Batman’s release. Colin Farrell’s take on The Penguin also deserves some love here too.
All of these factors powered The Batman to a $770 million box office run. Critics were kind enough to The Batman, as they saw the unique take on an early Batman story steering this franchise into previously unseen territory. Reeves would secure a sequel greenlight shortly after that opening weekend, with Warner Bros. Discovery looking to capitalize on the “trinity” over at DC Comics. (So, we’ve got Superman and Batman so far… where’s Wonder Woman folks?)
Reeves began writing his script for the next movie with Mattson Tomlin. Things seemed to be heading in a pretty understandable direction with the teases from the end of The Batman, and the fans were mostly behind Pattinson’s version of the beloved DC hero. But, of course, as it often does, pesky real-life would begin to complicate the picture a bit.
2023’s Writing Strike pushes things back a bit
In 2023, The Writers Guild of America authorized a strike of their workers in order to protect those different laborers’ rights in the face of a hostile labor environment. This move set off a ripple effect throughout all of Hollywood. You had late night hosts paying for people’s meals, and writers sharing more of their experiences in the business with the public at large.
For the purposes of our topic, it also meant that Reeves and Tomlin couldn’t work on the script without breaking the strike. That downtime also allowed them to think about the exact story they wanted to tell and probably prompted some of the edits that would come when they returned to the writing table once a new bargaining agreement was reached. (Same thing happened to Daredevil: Born Again, now that you mention it!)
The biggest thing for The Batman: Part II was the fact that James Gunn was hired to be the head of DC during the process of making this film. Gunn has contended that Reeves’ Batman Universe is separate from the DCU. That makes things even more delicate as Gunn clearly has “brave and bold” plans for The Caped Crusader too. Finding the right balance between the two different Batmen has to be a bit of a challenge.
The Batman: Part II slated for 2027
Now, after all the delays, The Batman: Part II soars into theaters on October 1, 2027. Pattinson returns after a “long Halloween” with Colin Farrell and Zoe Kravitz. Reeves has offered slight teases about a villain that’s “never really been done” in a movie before. All of that sounds exciting and the footage from that upcoming Clayface movie has people charged up for more Gotham stories.
We all might be a little disappointed that it’s been so long since seeing “Bat-tinson” in costume. But, that wait will likely come to an end next year once DC starts teasing this movie as a massive event. One day we’ll see The Batman: Part II. But, until then, we wait patiently!
(Photo Credit: DC)
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