“The Batman 2,” the sequel to Matt Reeves‘ “The Batman” starring Robert Pattinson, has been delayed by a full year to 2026.
Warner Bros. Pictures announced “The Batman 2” will now open in theaters and IMAX on October 2, 2026, delayed from October 3, 2025. The new Batman movie now opens a week ahead of a planned sequel to the animated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
Taking the place of “The Batman” on the release calendar is “The Bride!,” the new film from director Maggie Gyllenhaal that stars Christian Bale, Jessie Buckley, Peter Sarsgaard, with Annette Bening, and Penelope Cruz, and is meant to be a riff on Frankenstein. That film was announced to open Oct. 3, 2025, and it will also debut in IMAX.
“The Batman” opened in 2022 and was a box office hit for WB, grossing $772 million worldwide. A sequel was announced back in 2022.
Plot details remain under wraps for the new film. However, the original film ended with a tease of Barry Keoghan portraying the Joker in the film.
Now however DC Studios has new bosses in charge, with James Gunn and Peter Safran leading the studio. “The Batman” and its sequel will not be connected to the shared universe Gunn is building, kicking off with his new “Superman” movie that is in production now and will hit theaters July 11, 2025. Gunn has also announced plans for another “Batman” movie, “The Brave and the Bold.” “The Batman 2” should likely be given the label “DC Elseworlds,” same as the upcoming “Joker: Folie a Deux,” which is also not connected to the shared universe.
“The Batman” starred Pattinson as the Dark Knight in a film that emphasized Bruce Wayne’s more detective qualities. Paul Dano portrayed The Riddler in the film that also starred Zoë Kravitz, Colin Farrell, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Andy Serkis, and Peter Sarsgaard.
Other release date changes Warner Bros. announced include the untitled Paul Thomas Anderson movie, which will open August 8, 2025, and the studio also shifted the date for “Alto Knights,” which is directed by Barry Levinson and stars Robert De Niro. That film now opens March 21, 2025, delayed from a planned release this November.
