The Batman Part II boasts one of the most impressive comic book movie casts in recent memory, including a few MCU heavyweights who are jumping ship to the Distinguished Competition for Matt Reeves' long-awaited sequel.
Among them is Scarlett Johansson. The Avengers: Endgame and Black Widow star's role in the movie remains a mystery, with Gilda Dent and even Pamela Isley among the names batted around since she was first cast.
While Johansson is no stranger to comic book fare, she admitted during a recent interview that her role in The Batman Part II pushed her out of her comfort zone in a big way.
"I don't know; it gave me a lot of existential angst for some reason," the actress admitted in a joint interview with X-Men star Adam Driver. "It was very hard to figure out. I don't know why. Whether it was just the role or where I am in my life, or what's going on, it was hard to crack it. That's all I can say about it. It was a tough role in a lot of ways."
It certainly sounds like there's a lot to Johansson's role, meaning we can expect her to bring more to the table than just playing Harvey Dent's wife. The comic book version of Gilda is deeply disturbed, and we're sure you'll recall the quite bizarre rumours about The Batman Part II potentially featuring a female Two-Face. Then, there's the possibility of the Court of Owls coming into play. For now, we'll have to wait and see.
In other DC news, Batman News has unearthed details from casting director John Papsidera's recent appearance at the 2026 NashFilm Creators Conference. According to the site, Heath Ledger was actually Christopher Nolan's third choice to play The Dark Knight's Joker in 2008.
"Papsidera said the Joker was first sent to Leonardo DiCaprio," the report explains. "Joaquin Phoenix met with them and explained that he didn't want to do big movies, which Papsidera called ironic given that Phoenix later won an Oscar for playing the same character. Then they met Heath Ledger."
Phoenix had since admitted that he wasn't ready to take on the role at the time. As for DiCaprio, it's believed that he didn't even get back to Nolan and Papsidera, though he was later linked to 2019's Joker...where the lead role eventually went to Phoenix.
Directed by Matt Reeves and Steven Soderbergh from a script by him and Mattson Tomlin, The Batman Part II stars Robert Pattinson, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Colin Farrell, Andy Serkis, Jeffrey Wright, Charles Dance, Jayme Lawson, Gil Perez-Abraham, Sebastian Koch, and Brian Tyree Henry.
The Batman Part II is set to be released in theaters on February 18, 2028.