By now, everyone is aware that the sequel to The Batman (named The Batman – Part II) will be released in theaters in 2025. Obviously, fans have been foaming at the mouth for director Matt Reeves and lead actor Robert Pattinson to come back for another concoction in this gothic soap opera that pays homage to Batman’s detective roots.
The first Batman movie introduced the hero literally beating the common sense out of common thugs and street trash and labeling himself as “vengeance.” Our courageous hero encounters a new villain named Edward Nashton, a.k.a. The Riddler, who seeks to expose Gotham’s hypocritical and wealthy. The caped crusader has some help from the commissioner and an ever-so-sexy Catwoman while still being the heroic character we all know and love.
The film opened to positive reviews and was a box-office success. With all of that in mind, a sequel and, even better yet, a cinematic universe was inevitable, and with the onslaught of the sequel soon approaching, it is only fair to look at how this sequel could be the stuff of legends.
Clayface
This is a villain who is yet to have his cinematic debut on the silver screen. The villain has many different backstories and origins, which makes him one of Batman’s most intricate characters. The original version of the baddie was an actor named Basil Karlo. He becomes distraught when a movie that he is in is getting a remake without his involvement. As a result, he dons a costume, dubs himself Clayface, and kills the actors in the new film. The villain is later stopped by the Caped Crusader.
Nothing has been confirmed, but there have been rumors going around that we could finally see the villain on screen. Hopefully, audiences could see him as a giant blob of clay and not in a cheap costume. The last formidable foe that Batman fought who was able to outmatch his physical strength was Bane in The Dark Knight Rises all the way back in 2012. One could easily surmise that it’s something new for the hero to encounter, even if it costs the VFX department an arm and a leg to bring to cinematic life.
Exploring the Lore of Gotham City
One thing that could be amazing in the sequel is for Matt Reeves to focus more on the lore and history of Gotham City. Many incarnations of the Caped Crusader have seen Gotham City only used as a location. It would be wonderful to zero in on the city’s history. If audiences saw flashbacks of the Waynes’ rise to power, it would be something different to see on the silver screen.
A backstory of the city would shed a lot of light on the inception of who was behind the making and construction of the city. Starting with a flashback and then working their way up to the present day sounds like Matt Reeves could be pulling a Godfather Part II in the sense that he is able to give more background to the foundation and history the story is built around and building more onto the story with the continuation.
Catwoman’s Return?
Everyone loved Michelle Pfeiffer in the Tim Burton Batman series, and a lot of people still thought Halle Berry was as hot as the character in the 2004 cat-astrophe of film, but Zoe Kravitz was something to behold in Reeves’ film. Her sleek performance is what truly gives the movie sex appeal, and she certainly is gorgeous to look at, which rivals her predecessors.
One might think that having Batman, Catwoman, Carmine Falcone, Riddler, and Penguin in the same movie might be hard for some directors to keep track of, given its plethora of characters. Luckily, Kravitz’s Selina Kyle is a well-thought-out character with pulp in her motivations as she attempts to kill her father, Carmine Falcone, after he killed Kyle’s girlfriend, Annika, when he found out that she was an informant.
More Joker??
What seems like more of something that people are foaming at the mouth to finally see– or at least see again– is Barry Keoghan as the burned-up Joker. Sadly, it’s not Ledger or Nicholson, but at least it’s not Jared Leto.
In The Batman– or at least in a deleted scene from the film–Batman talks to the Joker, who is imprisoned for previous crimes and suffers from noticeable burns and cuts on his face. The dark knight asks for his enemies’ help in trying to take down the Riddler, as he knows that the closest person to Edward Nashton’s intellect and devious schemes would be the Joker. However, the clown prince of crime knows that Batman is scared and maniacally laughs as the Caped Crusader leaves, believing he has accomplished nothing with the visit. We see Joker again after the Riddler is incarcerated, which may imply a partnership in the future.
Keoghan’s performance is certainly noteworthy and undoubtedly creepy, even if we only see him for a few minutes. It’s evident that his presence was so frightening that the camera never fully focuses on him to reveal his true face. Maybe in the sequel, audiences will figure out what happened to him for him to get all of those burns and scars on his face. Hopefully, he won’t tell a story like Heath Ledger.
Paul Dano
Speaking of villains and team-ups, Paul Dano returning as the Riddler would be something incredibly great to unfold as he and Joker could join forces, along with a few other villains in Batman’s rogues gallery. Dano already gave a phenomenal performance as one of Batty’s baddies, and with the ending having him join forces with the Joker, it seems inevitable that audiences will be seeing more of him in the future.
Robert Pattinson
The highlight of what makes Batman the Batman is Robert Pattinson’s epic and subtle portrayal of the character. He never wanes or gets overly emotional in the scene unless absolutely necessary. Unlike so many other Batman origin stories, this is not one of them, and we don’t see the Waynes get murdered by Joe Chill in this iteration. We do, however, get to see a Batman who is more of a detective in the elements of Gotham City as he plays more of a Sherlock Holmes character with Alfred as his Watson. His presence is as magnetic and incredible as the titular superhero and suits him perfectly well. Despite all of the doubt that occurred with the casting of the actor, it seems that he simply disappeared into the role of Bruce Wayne and his alter ego.
There’s more hype around this movie than Superman: Legacy
Another thing that people need to realize is that James Gunn will be releasing his next film, Superman: Legacy. However, they are not happy with some of the changes that Gunn has placed on the newly formed DCU, formerly DCEU, and many fans want DC to restore the Snyderverse and get the old Justice League team back in action. With that being said, it would make sense as to why The Batman sequel would be a lot more successful than Gunn’s Superman film. The sequel to the Pattinson film is just that: a sequel. Fans aren’t starting from scratch and trying to build confidence in a brand that’s completely new, like Superman: Legacy, which is why Reeves’ film will be a lot more exciting to watch in the eyes of fans because we want to see what goes on in this continuation.
