The Batman came out in theaters in the United States on March 4, 2022, and The Batman Part II is currently scheduled for release on February 18, 2028.
Sure, there was The Penguin limited series on HBO in between, but that's still an unusually long wait for a follow-up to a critically and commercially successful tentpole film.
Adding to that fan frustration is the fact that The Flash was released in theaters in the United States on June 16, 2023, and saw Michael Keaton suit back up as The Dark Knight while the film also featured cameos from Ben Affleck and George Clooney as The Caped Crusader.
This was apparently equally as frustrating for Robert Pattinson, who recently voiced these feelings in a new interview with Première FR.
Pattinson shared, "There was the actors’ strike, the writers’ strike, and as a result, I didn’t work for two years. The sequel to The Batman was slow to set up... Meanwhile, I was actually seeing other actors than me playing Batman! [Michael Keaton in The Flash.] Ben Affleck in Aquaman 2... This whole affair didn’t smell very good... That’s when I decided to set up my production company."
Affleck did actually film scenes for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (December 22, 2023), but his role was ultimately cut from the film as the DCEU prepared to wind down.
Still, it must have been troubling for Pattinson to know this was occurring and being filmed while his own future as Batman was in an ambiguous state.
Watching other actors don the cowl while his own Batman sequel sat in limbo must have been a stark reminder of just how unpredictable studio politics can be.
The whole surreal situation underscored the perils of a major star like Pattinson relying strictly on studio IP.
Launching his own production outfit, Icki Eneo Arlo Productions, was his way of taking back control of his career, allowing him to option books, hunt down indie scripts, and keep himself working no matter how long the studios take.
His new studio is co-producing the Possession remake, starring Margaret Qualley, Callum Turner, Diego Calva, and Paul Dano, and the Zoë Kravitz-directed How To Save A Marriage.
More recently, his studio co-produced the Primetime psychological thriller that features Pattinson as To Catch a Predator host, Chris Hansen.