With The Batman - Part II reportedly scheduled to begin filming early next year, rumors relating to Matt Reeves' highly-anticipated sequel have been picking up steam of late.
Recently, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn appeared to debunk reports that several characters, Scarecrow, Clayface, Professor Pyg, and Hush, were set to appear in the movie, but didn't clarify whether all or only some of these rumors were "made up."
On this week's episode of The Hot Mic, host John Rocha mentioned that he heard "half" of the characters mentioned above will be introduced, with Jeff Sneider chiming in that he was told Tommy Elliot, aka Hush, is indeed a part of the script.
Speaking of which, Rocha also said he heard that the screenplay was handed in before Christmas, and that the story will be at least partially based on Geoff Johns' Batman: Earth One. Of course, the first film took a certain amount of inspiration from Vol. 1, so we assume the sequel would be more influenced by Volumes 2 and 3.
For those unfamiliar with the comic, Earth One takes place in the alternate continuity and features an updated and more realistic reinterpretation of the classic Batman origin and characters. Hush does not appear, but the later volumes do feature Clayface, Scarecrow, and a female take on Two-Face in Harvey Dent's twin sister Jessica.
This is obviously just a rumor for now, but Reeves looking to the next two Earth One volumes would make sense.
When the new DCU slate was announced, James Gunn confirmed that Reeves' "BatVerse" will remain separate from the DCU, so this movie, along with Todd Phillips' Joker sequel, will be considered "Elseworlds" tales. A new actor will down the cape and cowl for Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which will also feature a different take on Robin - The Caped Crusader's son, Damian Wayne.
Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Andy Serkis, Jeffrey Wright, and Colin Farrell are all expected to reprise their respective roles, and characters introduced in the Penguin Max spin-off series are also likely to appear.
Specific plot details are still under wraps, but we know the Penguin spin-off series will set up the story. As far as official info goes, Reeves has stated that his sequel will continue this "epic crime saga," but that's about all we have to go on.
The Batman - Part II is set to release in theaters on October 3, 2025.