A day after it was officially announced that The Batman Part II had been delayed, James Gunn revealed the reason behind the decision, which has angered fans. The DC Studios co-chairman and co-CEO said the script for the sequel to the highly-acclaimed movie was yet to be completed, prompting the executives to push back the film by a year to 2027 from its initial release date.
“The only reason for the delay is there isn’t a full script,” wrote Gunn on his Threads account.
“[Director] Matt [Reeves] is committed to making the best film he possibly can, and no one can accurately guess exactly how long a script will take to write. Once there is a finished script, there is around two years for preproduction, shooting, and post-production on big films.”
Gunn further defended the long gap between the two movies by citing his own filmography and stating that big-budget superhero movies typically have a lengthy production and post-production schedule.
“To be fair, a 5-year gap or more is fairly common in sequels. 7 years between Alien and Aliens. 14 years between Incredibles. 7 years between the first two Terminators. 13 years between Avatars. 36 years between Top Guns. And, of course, 6 years between Guardians Vol. 2 and Vol. 3.”
The Batman Part II will now be premiering on October 1, 2027, with production on the movie slated to begin in the summer of next year. However, with the script yet to be finalized, it might be a race against time for Gunn and his team to get the production on schedule.
VFX-Heavy Movie
A Deadline report previously claimed that the second installment will be VFX-heavy, meaning a considerable amount of time will be spent during the post-production process. However, if the script is not perfected by Reeves, the release could be further delayed if reshoots are ordered, as has been the case with many recent DC offerings.
Warner Bros is expected to slot in Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Tom Cruise’s upcoming film in the vacant spot left by The Batman sequel. The unnamed movie will be released in IMAX on October 2, 2025.
As per Reeves, the work on the script for the second film in a planned trilogy has been “slow.”
“We’re finishing the script. We’re going to be shooting next year,” Reeves said in a recent Directors on Directors conversation with Variety.
Alongside Robert Pattinson, Colin Farrell’s Oswald “Oz” Cobb, aka The Penguin, will be featuring in the sequel, though there is no confirmation from the studio regarding Zoë Kravitz’s return as Catwoman.
