Robert Pattinson is making his return to the DC model.
Whereas James Gunn’s DC continuity continues to be happening, Elseworlds properties like The Batman universe are going ahead on the identical time. Following Pattinson’s first movie because the Caped Crusader, the British star is presently engaged on his subsequent look because the legendary superhero.
@hoeBread36 not too long ago shared new The Batman – Part II set photographs, with filming presently underway in Glasgow, the place a stunt double who’s seemingly for Scarlett Johansson’s character is seen within the Batmobile. As of writing, it has not formally been introduced who her participant is meant to be within the movie.
This sequence appears to be a part of the scenes that they’re filming the place the GCPD are chasing the Darkish Knight’s well-known automobile, with the blond lady seen within the entrance seat subsequent to the Gotham Metropolis crime fighter. There may be presently no recognized context for why they’re looking Batman.
In relation to who the Black Widow veteran is portraying as a part of The Batman – Part II cast, it has been rumored that she is taking part in Gilda Dent, who is healthier recognized within the comedian canon as Harvey Dent’s spouse. Nevertheless, Reeves has not confirmed if that’s Johansson’s function within the 2028 entry.
Whereas there are various DC characters that Johansson could be in The Batman – Part II, time will inform if DC Studios will really reveal the id previous to the movie’s launch or if viewers members will merely have to attend till the primary trailer is launched. It additionally would not be stunning in the event that they hold it beneath wraps all through advertising and marketing, permitting viewers to study who she is once they really catch the sequel in theaters.
Nevertheless, she will not be the one Marvel Cinematic Universe actor to make the bounce to Reeves’ DC franchise. Sebastian Stan, who has performed Bucky Barnes since 2011, has been tapped for a secret function, as has Eternals’ Brian Tyree Henry, along with his function additionally being stored a thriller.
From the Caped Crusader to The Batman · Eight Questions How Properly Do You Know Batman? “I’m Batman.”
🦌Bob & InvoiceDetective Comics #27, 1939
🥘The Camp PeriodAdam West, 1966
🎣Burton & SchumacherKeaton to Clooney, 1989–97
💉The Darkish KnightBale & Ledger, 2005–12
🕵The BatmanPattinson & Reeves, 2022–
01
Batman debuted in Detective Comics #27 in Might 1939. Cartoonist Bob Kane obtained sole credit score for creating the character for the subsequent 76 years — on each comedian, each TV collection, each movie — regardless of being solely half of the true partnership. His uncredited collaborator wrote a lot of the unique story, designed the cowl and cape, invented the title “Bruce Wayne,” named Gotham Metropolis, and helped create the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler and Catwoman. DC lastly added his title to all Batman credit in 2015. Who?
✓ Right! Invoice Finger (1914–1974). Kane’s authentic 1939 pitch was a Superman-style determine in a purple leotard with a domino masks and bat-wings; Finger talked him into the cowl, scalloped cape, gauntlets and grey-and-black color scheme which have outlined the character ever since. Finger additionally wrote Detective Comics #27 itself, named Bruce Wayne (after Robert the Bruce and Anthony Wayne), created Gotham as a stand-in for New York, and co-created a lot of the rogues’ gallery — whereas signing a 1939 contract that gave Kane unique byline credit score. Kane obtained hundreds of thousands in royalties; Finger died poor and uncredited. After a 2014 documentary and a 2015 household marketing campaign, Warner Bros. and DC added “Batman created by Bob Kane with Invoice Finger” to each credit score beginning with Gotham (Fox), Batman v Superman (2016) and ahead.
✗ Incorrect. The reply is Invoice Finger. Jerry Robinson (possibility A) actually did co-create the Joker and Robin alongside Finger and Kane — he was the third member of the early studio — however the cowl, cape, “Bruce Wayne,” Gotham Metropolis and the precise script of Detective Comics #27 have been Finger’s. Joe Shuster co-created Superman, not Batman. Otto Binder created Supergirl and Mary Marvel. Finger signed away his byline in 1939 and didn’t obtain on-screen credit score till 2015.
02
Batman: The Film — launched in July 1966 between the primary and second seasons of the ABC TV collection, that includes the “Holy No matter, Batman!” tone, the 4 super-villain team-up (Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman), the shark-repellent Bat-spray, and the Batmobile/Batboat/Batcopter — is mostly thought-about the primary theatrical Batman characteristic movie. Two earlier Nineteen Forties film serials don’t qualify as standalone options. Which actor performed Batman on this first theatrical characteristic?
✓ Right! Adam West (1928–2017), with Burt Ward as Robin and Cesar Romero because the Joker. West performed the function throughout 120 ABC episodes (1966–1968) and the 1966 theatrical characteristic, hammed up the camp tone to perfection, after which spent a long time typecast earlier than reclaiming the function in animated kind (Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, 2016) and as Mayor West on Household Man. The 2 traps are actual: Lewis Wilson performed Batman in Columbia’s 15-chapter 1943 serial Batman, and Robert Lowery performed him within the 1949 sequel serial Batman and Robin — however these have been Saturday-morning chapter performs, not standalone theatrical options. Michael Keaton’s Batman doesn’t arrive till Tim Burton’s 1989 movie.
✗ Incorrect. The reply is Adam West. The entice is actual however technical: Lewis Wilson (1943) and Robert Lowery (1949) each performed Batman in Columbia film serials, however these have been 15-chapter Saturday-morning serials, not theatrical options. Adam West’s 1966 Batman: The Film — with the four-villain team-up and the shark-repellent Bat-spray — is the primary standalone Batman characteristic movie. Michael Keaton doesn’t arrive till 1989.
03
Batman: The Animated Sequence (Fox Children, 1992–1995) — the Bruce Timm/Eric Radomski manufacturing with the deco-noir “Darkish Deco” backgrounds painted on black paper — is persistently ranked by followers and creators because the definitive display screen Batman. Its central efficiency is so iconic that the actor reprised it throughout 30 years, each DC Animated Universe collection, and a dozen Arkham-series video video games. He died on November 10, 2022, and DC basically handled his passing because the dying of Batman’s voice. Identify him.
✓ Right! Kevin Conroy (1955–2022). Conroy’s key innovation, on his first audition for BTAS in 1991, was to provide Bruce Wayne and Batman two distinct voices — Bruce because the lighter, charming playboy and Batman because the deeper, harder-edged growl — a take that grew to become the trade default and was overtly copied by Christian Bale, Ben Affleck and Robert Pattinson on display screen. He performed the function for 31 years, throughout BTAS, Superman: TAS, Justice League, Justice League Limitless, Batman Past (because the aged Bruce), and each Rocksteady Arkham sport. The entice is real: Mark Hamill voiced the Joker reverse Conroy on BTAS and is simply as legendary in that function. Tim Daly voiced Superman; Will Friedle voiced Terry McGinnis in Batman Past. Conroy died in November 2022 at 66.
✗ Incorrect. The reply is Kevin Conroy. Mark Hamill (possibility C) is the enormous entice — he voiced the Joker reverse Conroy on BTAS for 30 years and is extensively thought-about the definitive display screen Joker — however Batman was Conroy. Tim Daly voiced Superman within the DCAU; Will Friedle voiced Terry McGinnis in Batman Past, with Conroy nonetheless taking part in the aged Bruce. Conroy died November 10, 2022.
04
Jack Nicholson’s Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) earned him an estimated $60–$90 million from a movie for which his precise on-screen wage was a reasonably modest $6 million — making it, dollar-for-dollar, one of the crucial famously profitable single roles in Hollywood historical past. He achieved this by negotiating an uncommon deal construction that different actors instantly tried (and largely failed) to repeat. What was it?
✓ Right! Nicholson took a $6 million base, a bit of the box-office gross (so-called “first-dollar gross” somewhat than web earnings, which Hollywood accounting has a behavior of vapourising) AND a share of Batman merchandising — the toys, posters, t-shirts, lunch containers, video video games and trip tickets. Batman (1989) grossed $411 million theatrically and unleashed the most important superhero merchandising wave in historical past, and Nicholson’s royalties on it have reportedly continued accruing for many years. His agent Sue Mengers, and his legal professional’s “back-end participation” construction, grew to become the gold customary talent-deal template that A-listers like Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr. would later use. Nicholson additionally negotiated prime billing over Michael Keaton (regardless of Batman being the title character) and restricted shoot days. It’s the most-copied bad-guy deal in Hollywood.
✗ Incorrect. The reply is C — a share of box-office gross plus merchandising royalties. The $6 million base wage was comparatively modest by 1989 star requirements; the magic was the back-end participation in each ticket gross sales and the unprecedented Batman toy/poster/lunchbox merchandise wave, which has reportedly continued paying out for many years. Tom Cruise and RDJ later borrowed the identical gross-points-plus-merch template. There was no $50M opening-weekend set off, no fairness stake in Warners, and no per-screening micro-royalty.
05
After Ben Affleck stepped down from his deliberate solo Batman movie, Warner Bros. handed the challenge to a brand new director who reconceived it as a noir-detective serial-killer story modelled on Se7en and Zodiac, runs 2h 56min, casts Robert Pattinson as a brooding second-year Bruce Wayne, and provides Paul Dano’s Riddler a Zodiac-style cipher gimmick. The Batman (2022) grossed $772 million worldwide. Who directed it?
✓ Right! Matt Reeves — the Cloverfield (2008), Let Me In (2010), and Daybreak of the Planet of the Apes (2014) / Struggle for the Planet of the Apes (2017) director. Reeves co-wrote The Batman with Peter Craig, leaned arduous right into a Fincher-noir detective tone (the Riddler is actually Zodiac), and obtained Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz (Catwoman), Colin Farrell (an unrecognisable Penguin), Paul Dano (Riddler) and Jeffrey Wright (Gordon). The movie established its personal continuity separate from the DCEU/James Gunn DCU. The Penguin (HBO/Max, 2024) adopted as a Reeves-produced spin-off, and The Batman: Half II is presently scheduled for 2026.
✗ Incorrect. The reply is Matt Reeves — the Cloverfield, Let Me In and Planet of the Apes-reboot director. Nolan made the Darkish Knight trilogy (2005–2012); Snyder made Batman v Superman (2016) and Justice League (2017/2021) with Affleck’s Batman; Burton made the 1989/1992 Keaton movies. The Batman (2022) is Reeves’s, in its personal continuity, with The Penguin (2024) because the spin-off and Half II in 2026.
06
Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin (1997) — with Bat-nipples on the swimsuit, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze spitting ice puns (“Let’s kick some ice!”), Uma Thurman’s Poison Ivy, Alicia Silverstone’s Batgirl, and an estimated $238 million box-office failure on a $125 million price range — is extensively considered one of many worst superhero movies ever made. It killed the live-action Batman franchise for eight years till Batman Begins (2005). Who performed Batman in it?
✓ Right! George Clooney — in his solely outing as Bruce Wayne, between his ER fame and Out of Sight. Clooney has publicly apologised for the movie for practically thirty years; he advised Leisure Weekly he “destroyed the franchise” and routinely thanks followers for his or her hostility. The entice is Val Kilmer, who performed Batman within the earlier Schumacher movie, Batman Ceaselessly (1995) — he was initially signed for 2 however exited as a result of scheduling and reported disputes with Schumacher. Keaton performed Batman in Burton’s 1989 and 1992 movies (and returned in The Flash, 2023). Bale arrived eight years later in Nolan’s Batman Begins (2005). The Bat-nipples have been Schumacher’s, the ice puns Schwarzenegger’s, the apology Clooney’s.
✗ Incorrect. The reply is George Clooney. Val Kilmer (possibility B) was Batman within the earlier Schumacher movie, Batman Ceaselessly (1995) — he then exited and Clooney took over for Batman & Robin. Keaton was Batman in Burton’s 1989/1992 movies (and returned in The Flash, 2023). Bale arrived in Nolan’s Batman Begins (2005), eight years after Batman & Robin killed the franchise.
07
Cesar Romero’s Joker on the 1966–1968 ABC Batman collection — white grease-paint, inexperienced wig, purple lipstick, manic giggle — stays one of many most-cited comedic TV villains in American historical past. Romero, a leading-man matinée idol because the Thirties, agreed to the function on one situation: he refused to do a particular factor for the make-up. You may nonetheless see what he refused if you happen to look carefully. What did Romero refuse?
✓ Right! Romero refused to shave his trademark moustache — reportedly a conceit rule he’d had because the Thirties — so the make-up division merely caked white grease-paint over it. In case you watch the 1966 episodes or Batman: The Film (1966) on Blu-ray, you possibly can clearly see the moustache bristles poking by the white paint above his lip. It’s one among TV’s most-cited “visible-prosthetic” quirks — later parodied by Burt Ward and explicitly nodded to within the 2016 animated Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (Romero was already lifeless, having handed in 1994, however the animation reproduces the moustache beneath the make-up). Romero performed the function for all three TV seasons and the 1966 characteristic.
✗ Incorrect. The reply is shaving his moustache. Romero had had his trademark Latin-lover moustache because the Thirties, refused to lose it for any function, and the make-up division merely painted white grease-paint over it — if you happen to look carefully on Blu-ray you possibly can see the bristles poking by beneath his lip. The wig, the high-pitched giggle and the purple gloves have been all issues he gladly did.
08
Todd Phillips’s Joker (2019) — the standalone, R-rated, $1.07-billion-grossing Joaquin Phoenix automobile that exists exterior any DC continuity — was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, probably the most of any comic-book-derived movie on the time. It received Finest Actor for Phoenix. It additionally received precisely one different Oscar that evening. Which?
✓ Right! Finest Authentic Rating, Hildur Guðnadóttir — the Icelandic cellist and composer who, in the identical awards cycle, received the Emmy and Grammy for Chernobyl (HBO, 2019). Joker’s rating (anchored by the haunting cello motif throughout Arthur Fleck’s rest room dance) was her breakthrough; she grew to become the primary solo lady to win Finest Authentic Rating since Marilyn Bergman in 1984 (and the fourth ever). Phillips misplaced Finest Director to Bong Joon-ho for Parasite, which additionally received Finest Image, beating Joker’s nomination. The movie’s screenplay nomination was Tailored (as a result of it’s based mostly on current DC IP), not Authentic — possibility C names the suitable class but it surely misplaced to Jojo Rabbit.
✗ Incorrect. The reply is Finest Authentic Rating — Hildur Guðnadóttir (additionally the Chernobyl composer that yr). She grew to become the fourth solo lady ever to win the class. Phillips misplaced Finest Director to Bong Joon-ho (Parasite); Finest Image additionally went to Parasite; the screenplay nomination was Tailored (not Authentic) and misplaced to Jojo Rabbit. Phoenix’s Finest Actor + Guðnadóttir’s Finest Authentic Rating are Joker’s two 2020 Oscar wins.
The Bat-Sign Has Pale · Ultimate Scorecard Your Gotham Standing
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World’s Best Detective — or a Gotham purple herring?
Thus far, little or no is thought concerning the precise storyline for The Batman – Half II, aside from that will probably be set throughout winter. It is going to happen shortly after the occasions of The Penguin season 1 finale, with Colin Farrell reprising the function of Oz Cobb within the DC continuation.
As The Batman – Half II continues with principal images, it is attainable extra set photographs and movies will supply extra clues to who among the new solid members are taking part in within the extremely anticipated follow-up. With the movie nonetheless being in manufacturing for the subsequent couple of months, the world will ideally get a larger sense of what’s in retailer for Pattinson’s subsequent journey because the well-known superhero.
The Batman – Half II opens in theaters on February 18, 2028.
