It’ll be another year before the Dark Knight returns. The Batman Part II, the sequel to Matt Reeves’ first bat-film starring Robert Pattinson, has been given a new release date of October 2nd, 2026.
The delay pushes the anticipated followup back from its original October 3rd, 2025 target by a full year. DC Studios insiders tell The Hollywood Reporter that the delay is a result of last year’s SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, both of which ended in the fall.
The shift is one of many on Warner Bros.’s calendar. The Bride!, which sees Maggie Gyllenhaal directing former Batman Christian Bale, will take The Batman Part II’s original October 3rd, 2025 date. Paul Thomas Anderson’s untitled project set to star Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Ragina Hall is set for August 8th, 2025, while Barry Levinson’s gangster movie Alto Nights has moved from November 24th this year to March 21st next.
But fans of Reeves’ Bat-verse (considered an “Elseworld” tale aside from the soon-to-be-restarted DC Universe, but still falling under the purview of DC Studios’ James Gunn and Peter Safran) won’t have to wait another two years before returning to this iteration of Gotham. Colin Ferral’s The Penguin spin-off series is expected to hit Max later this year.
Meanwhile, the Arkham Asylum series Reeves was working on before Gunn and Safran took over DC is still in the works, though set within the DCU proper. The Flash director Andy Muschietti is also working on introducing the DCU’s version of Batman in his The Brave and the Bold.
The new DC Universe is set to debut with Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, introduced by the animated Creature Commandos TV show before Gunn’s Superman project lands in cinemas on July 11th, 2025. That film will star David Corenswet (Superman), Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), Nicholas Hoult (Lex Luthor), Nathan Fillion (Green Lantern/Guy Gardner), Isabela Merced (Hawkgirl), Edi Gathegi (Mister Terrific), Anthony Carrigan (Metamorpho), and Wendell Pierce (Perry White). Milly Alcock may also appear in her Supergirl role, though that’s unconfirmed at this time.