OK, let’s get serious here. This movie is now moving into “it will never happen” territory. Just give it up. It’s clear that James Gunn and Peter Safran would prefer a singular vision around the new DCU and only one version of Batman running around. The further to the right this thing moves, the more pointless it becomes.
If Superman makes coin, and lets everyone at Warner Bros. and DC Studios breathe a sigh of relief, then the DCU will be strengthened and Elseworlds, already critically wounded by the abject failure of Joker: Folix A Deux, could be killed off forever.
The Batman Part II has now moved out even further, the latest in a long line of delays. Add to this that star Robert Pattinson is in talks to play a villain in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Messiah, and the future of this film is looking distinctly wobbly.
The movie was originally set to begin filming on July 7th this year, with some of the production taking place in Hungary. Now Nexus Point News has quoted a source, saying that the production will now not start work until 2026.
The Batman is already over 3 years old, and reports vary as to whether a script for the sequel has even been submitted to the studio. The further the original fades into the rearview mirror, the less relevant it feels. That relevance will completely evaporate if the DCU version of Batman makes it to the screen first.
The universe of The Batman got a boost from the critical reception to The Penguin limited series on HBO Max, but further exploration of the universe in the form of an Arkham show or a Gotham PD show have failed to materialise and there is no news on a second series of The Penguin.
This all just adds to the general feeling of abandonment developing fast around this iteration of the character.