Scarlett Johansson is getting ready to trade the Marvel red for Gotham black. The longtime “Black Widow” star is in talks to join Robert Pattinson in “The Batman Part II,” the sequel to “The Batman” that will continue Matt Reeves’ grim, ground-level take on the Dark Knight for DC Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures.
According to multiple reports, Johansson is in negotiations to star opposite Pattinson in the 2027 follow-up, with character details remaining under wraps for now. The film is once again directed and co-written by Reeves and will take place within his separate “epic crime saga” corner of the DC universe, officially branded as an Elseworlds project outside James Gunn and Peter Safran’s mainline DCU.
One major shift from the first film: Zoe Kravitz is not expected to return as Selina Kyle/Catwoman this time around. That leaves a sizable vacuum in Batman’s orbit — romantic, moral, and otherwise — that Johansson’s still-mysterious character could end up occupying, even if the studio isn’t ready to label her a love interest, villain, or something in between.
What’s clear is that Reeves and company are adding a proven movie star to a franchise that was already anchored by Pattinson’s bruised, obsessive Bruce Wayne. “The Batman Part II” remains heavily shrouded in secrecy, but the sequel is currently scheduled for release on October 1, 2027, with production expected to begin next year as cameras roll again on Gotham’s rain-slicked streets. David Fincher’s go-to cinematographer, Erik Messerschmidt, was recently revealed as the replacement for DP Greig Fraser, who will be busy lensing Sam Mendes’ four ‘Beatles’ movies.
Johansson, meanwhile, is coming off a post-Marvel run that’s leaned into both auteur projects and large-scale franchises: Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” spy and family caper “Fly Me to the Moon,” and dinosaur blockbuster “Jurassic World Rebirth,” with a follow-up to the latter already on deck and a new “Exorcist” film from Mike Flanagan in the works. Adding Reeves’ Gotham saga to that slate suggests she’s not done with big branded worlds — just ready to haunt a different kind of comic-book universe.
For now, everything else about “The Batman Part II” remains behind the curtain: no official logline, no confirmation of which rogues or allies will return, and no hint of who Johansson might be playing beyond a flurry of fan theories. But bringing an MCU veteran into Reeves’ noir-soaked Gotham underlines the same idea that powered the first film — take the iconography seriously, surround it with heavyweight talent, and let the shadows do the rest.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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