From the beginning, it was expected that The Batman would be the first part of a new trilogy. However, no one could have anticipated that a new DC Universe would take shape in the months after the release of the first movie. We’re still awaiting the release of The Batman Part II, but director Matt Reeves confirmed to Collider that he still plans on completing the trilogy.

“Yes, that is still the plan,” Reeves said. “I mean, it’s sticking very closely to the path we envisioned.” The director admitted that some things have shifted, most notably in the choice to showcase Penguin’s (Colin Farrell) rise to power in a TV series. “I had always intended to continue Penguin’s story, and wanted to tell this story of his beginning of rise to power. Because we know that he’s introduced in The Batman as a kind of mid-level, sort of overlooked, mocked figure, who’s not yet in anyone’s eyes the kingpin we come to know him as in the lore,” Reeves explained. “And so, that was deliberate because I wanted— whereas it wasn’t Batman’s origin story, I wanted the origin stories of these other characters, of the Rogues Gallery and that story was originally going to be the entrée into the next movie.“

The Batman Part II co-writer Mattson Tomlin has said the sequel will finally start shooting next year. It is currently slated for an October 2, 2026 release.

Just last week, Reeves revealed that DC is super excited about the sequel. “We’ve shared [the script] as we’ve been going along with DC, and they’re super excited,” Reeves said. “It’s going to dig into the epic story about deeper corruption, and it goes into places [Bruce Wayne] couldn’t even anticipate in the first one. The seeds of where this goes are all in the first movie & it expands in a way that will show you aspects of the character you never got to see. Batman is constantly battling these forces. But those forces can’t be entirely exorcised. So the next movie delves deeper into that.“

As for The Penguin, the series will premiere on HBO next week. Taking place after the events of The Batman, the series will find Oswald Cobblepot taking advantage of the power vacuum created by the death of Carmine Falcone. In addition to Farrell, the series stars Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, daughter of the late Carmine, Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar, Oswald’s driver, Michael Kelly as Johnny Vity, Falcone family underboss, and Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni, a rival gangster. Shohreh Aghdashloo, Deirdre O’Connell, James Madio, Scott Cohen, Michael Zegen, Carmen Ejogo, and Theo Rossi also star in the series. Our own Alex Maidy called the series “a masterpiece that will be the defining performance of Colin Farrel’s career.” Damn! You can check out the rest of his review right here.

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