We've been hearing rumblings about plans for The Batman to launch a new trilogy of movies starring the Dark Knight for some time now, and HBO Max is already knee-deep in developing a couple of small screen spinoffs. Those shows will put the spotlight on the GCPD and The Penguin, but as excited as we are for them, a sequel announcement would definitely be welcomed by fans.
During a recent interview with The Los Angeles Times, The Batman director Matt Reeves explained why he's not looking to rush into making a sequel. In fact, he deliberately approached this movie as a standalone adventure in order to make sure it would be a satisfying experience for audiences.
"Here's the thing, my feeling in doing the film was always that I would never treat it as chapter one. Because chapter one assumes that there are more chapters," the filmmaker explained. "So what I wanted to do was to make this movie a satisfying experience so that people could experience a new fresh version of a character that the world has loved for over eighty years."
"I think that if we succeed on that front, I know that I have a lot of stories I want to tell and then we'll do chapter two, but not because we didn't make this one a complete experience," Reeves added. "Let's just see what happens, let's see the audience watch it. I hope they connect to it and if they do then yes there's definitely more to do and I will not be napping for too long!"
Providing it's a box office hit - and all signs are pointing to that being the case - then we see no reason why The Batman 2 won't become a reality. Reeves' approach seems like the best possible one, though, and it sounds like the upcoming movie will work as a self-contained story in its own right without worrying too much about setting up the next big villain, storyline, or wider "Batverse."
Reeves does appear to be pretty committed to building this universe, but we may have to be patient for a follow-up, and those spinoffs will likely be released before the next movie is.
The Batman is set to be released exclusively in theaters on March 4.