The Batman Part II's repeated release date delays have led to concerns that the movie will never happen. While The Batman was a success in 2022 and The Penguin received rave reviews when it premiered last September, Warner Bros. giving up on the franchise isn't outside the realm of possibility.
Neither the film nor TV series ended on a cliffhanger as such, and with DC Studios looking to deliver its own Batman movie, titled The Brave and the Bold, there's something of a conflict there that surely puts The Batman franchise at risk.
Earlier this week, there was once again chatter online about The Batman Part II being pushed back because filmmaker Matt Reeves, or someone close to him, is dealing with health issues. He's yet to comment on that and likely won't, given that it's a personal matter.
Talking on The Hot Mic podcast, Jeff Sneider shared his take on whether Robert Pattinson joining the cast of Dune: Messiah is an indication that The Batman sequel is about to be hit by another release date delay (which was first said to be a possibility earlier this week).
"I don't think anything has changed...I don't believe that the movie has been delayed," the insider shared. "I think [Pattinson] is doing both. Yes, he's going to do Dune this summer...and then yes, that's the summer and he's going into Batman in the winter."
"When they say 'pushed to 2026,' could that be like, 'Hey, we were gonna start in December, and now we're starting in January'? Yeah. That could technically be it," Sneider continued. "I don't think there was any massive delay."
While the prolific reporter declined to specify what's happening in Reeves' life, he did express a strong belief - which may be more opinion-based, than "scoop" - if Reeves isn't able to begin work on The Batman Part II by the end of 2025, there's a chance that Warner Bros. will move on without him (whether that means scrapping the movie or hiring a new director isn't clear).
"I know that Grace said something the other day on her show. I think that she had certain things wrong. I think that situation is still unresolved and that's why things are still unresolved as far as The Batman. I'll put it this way: I think even though that situation may be unresolved, I would say that if a decision isn't made by the end of the year - if the movie doesn't get up and running by the end of the year - I do think [Reeves] will exit. I think it will be a, 'Hey, we've got to move on here.' It will be very sad. At this point, people are understanding of the circumstances, but there's some frustration and it's gonna be, 'We need to go on this, with or without you soon.'"
This may put an end to theories that there's some sort of rift between Reeves and DC Studios leadership. However, if Gunn is holding off on starting work on The Brave and the Bold because Warner Bros. wants to prioritise The Batman Part II, something's got to give.
Batman remains DC's biggest box office draw, and at this rate, we'll be closing in on 2030 before seeing him take centre stage in a movie again. That surely won't benefit the DCU or Reeves' "Bat-verse." Tellingly, Sneider also suggested that the sequel's script still isn't done.
The Batman Part II will be released in theaters on October 1, 2027.