Casting is now underway for The Batman - Part II ahead of the movie officially commencing production early next year. Last week, we learned that none other than Scarlett Johansson is in final talks for an undisclosed role, and it sounds like the studio is planning to add another A-lister to the ensemble.
Several insiders have claimed that Johansson will play a villain - or possibly a new love interest for Bruce Wayne who is ultimately revealed to be a villain - but scooper Daniel Richtman is now reporting that the Dark Knight will also have to contend with another mysterious new foe in Matt Reeves' long-awaited sequel.
"I hear they are also casting for a male villain for the Batman and an offer is already out for an A-lister."
Richtman doesn't mention the actor, but we have heard some whispers that it might just be a major star who recently revved his engines in another Warner Bros.-backed project.
As for the character, Jeff Sneider recently suggested that it might be Amadeus Arkham, which wouldn't really make a lot of sense unless the movie introduced a very different take on the Arkham Asylum founder.
Reeves has previously dropped a few hints about the villain Batman will be facing off against in the movie, describing the mysterious antagonist as someone who has "never really been done in a movie before." There's a good chance he was referring to Johansson's character here, however.
“Because of what the first movie was and what [The Batman: Part 2] is, which is so much a detective story, the idea of trying to protect the secrets of the movie is super important because it’s a mystery. That would be an extra level of heartbreak if that part of it started getting out. You wanna keep the surprise so the fans... can have the fun experience that I always love going to the movies, which was to go and be surprised,” the filmmaker said in a recent interview.
In addition to The Penguin star Colin Farrell and several others (presumably more than 5 people at this stage), Robert Pattinson has read the script - which was delivered to him in a highly secure envelope that required a separate code to open - and was said to be very happy with the story, which will seemingly take the iconic DC Comics hero in a direction we have not seen before.“
"He’s Batman, so if he doesn’t like it, not good. So, I was super excited because I thought that he really would [like it] because the things that it does for his character, for Batman, and for [Bruce Wayne] has never been done before in this way. And I had a feeling he would respond in this way, the fact that he did was incredibly encouraging,” Reeves added.
The Batman - Part II is set to hit theaters on October 1, 2027.