Today, director Matt Reeves officially announced that his Batman sequel has been delayed again into early 2028. This will be the second delay in the film’s release, after it took years to enter production. It was originally going to hit screens on October 1st, 2027, almost five and a half years after the original film debuted in 2022. It has now been pushed and is slated for release on February 18th, 2028. A full six years after the original film came out.
Reeves also already announced the cast for The Batman sequel when production began in May. He confirmed that Scarlett Johansson and Sebastian Stan would both be in the film after being rumored for roles. The ongoing rumor was that they would both be playing Harvey and Gilda Dent in an adaptation of The Long Halloween. However, shortly after production began, it was revealed that Stan had completely shaved his head, which would be extremely odd for a Gotham City attorney like Harvey Dent (via InStyle). It is now suspected that Stan is actually playing the Gotham serial killer Victor Zsasz (via The InSneider). While Brian Tyree Henry could actually be up for the role of Harvey Dent.
As for Scarlett Johansson, she was rumored to play Dent’s wife, Gilda. In The Long Halloween, Gilda is secretly behind all the murders in Gotham as the Holiday Killer. Now, according to a Reddit rumor from someone working on the film, she is described as “a killer who uses planetary toxins”, which suggests she could only be a version of Poison Ivy. Ivy last appeared in live action in the critically panned 1997 movie Batman & Robin, played by Uma Thurman. Neither Scarlett Johansson’s nor Sebastian Stan’s roles have been officially announced by the studio and should still be treated as rumors.
The Batman 2 hits theaters on February 18th, 2028