The Batman - Part II director Matt Reeves announced that production is officially underway last week, while revealing that the long-awaited sequel will indeed have a wintery setting.
Last night, the filmmaker welcomed six returning cast members back to the set via a series of X posts, and has now confirmed our first new additions to the ensemble.
Reeves shared a GIF featuring Scarlett Johansson from the 2013 sci-fi thriller Under the Skin, along with the caption: "Next exit, Gotham... Welcome." He followed up by confirming that Sebstain Stan is in a "Gotham state of mind."
We still don't know for certain who Johansson and Stan are playing, but the trades seem confident that it will be Gilda Dent and her husband, Harvey, aka the man who will become Two-Face.
Update: Reeves has now confirmed Charles Dance's casting. The Game of Thrones alum is believed to be playing Christopher Dent.
The previously announced actors are: Robert Pattinson (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Jeffrey Wright (Jim Gordon), Andy Serkis (Alfred Pennyworth), and Colin Farrell (Oz Cobb/The Penguin), along with Jayme Lawson as Bella Réal and Gil Perez-Abraham as Officer Martinez.
Though plot details for The Batman - Part II are still under wraps, we have been able to piece together a few things based on casting details and comments from Reeves and others involved with the film.
Some fans have grown concerned that the long-awaited sequel may rehash too many plot details from Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (more below), but it sounds like Reeves and co. may be cooking up something nobody will expect.
Pattinson was asked about the film during a recent interview, and while he declined to go into detail about the script, he did promise that The Batman 2 will be a "really different type of Batman movie."
"The script is so good. It's kinda crazy, because the first one was a little bit of a different type of Batman movie, and this is a really different type of Batman movie. Hopefully, people will be really pleasantly surprised by it."
The Drama star's comments have prompted theories that the sequel could play out in a single location, taking inspiration from Grant Morrison's acclaimed Arkham Asylum graphic novel.
Possible spoilers follow.
A Previous report claimed that the movie's plot "involves District Attorney Harvey Dent (Stan), Commissioner James Gordon (Wright), and Batman forming an uneasy alliance to bring down a serial killer and the city’s entrenched mafia power." More recently, the movie's working title, "Semper Vigilans," led to speculation that the Court of Owls might be involved.
A new take on the Caped Crusader is set to make his DCU debut in The Brave and the Bold (if not sooner).
The Batman - Part II is set to hit theaters on October 1, 2027.