Batman Part 2 rumors suggest he’s flying into darker, weirder territory film

MAT REEVES Batman has been a strange beast from the beginning. The comic may not be weird in the usual sense — no cosmic portals or rubber nipples here — but it’s weird nonetheless. This was a Gotham City where Bruce Wayne appeared to have been fashioned by the ghost of Kurt Cobain, the Riddler appeared to have escaped from David Fincher’s evidence locker, and the entire city looked as if it had been left to marinate overnight in rainwater and civic corruption. It was expected that Reeves would start to back away from the antics in the sequel, perhaps leaving us with a more traditional Batverse populated by gangsters and corrupt lawyers. Sebastian Stan seemed central to this, with rumors suggesting he would play Harvey Dent/Two-Face, possibly alongside Scarlett Johansson as his wife Gilda.

However, last week, there were suggestions that the sequel may be setting itself up for something a bit more horrific. Hollywood industry veteran Jeff Snyder reports that the main antagonist this time around could be the Court of Owls, a sinister secret society of Gotham’s high-ranking nobles that at first glance looks like an upgrade on the murderbirds of League of Shadows, but they’re actually something far more sinister: the city’s twisted and disguised ruling class, who live out of secret chambers and exploit a portfolio of property that may belong to the Pilgrims.

First introduced in Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s 2011 Batman film, the Court has the distinct advantage of having never been seen in a live-action Batman film before, largely because they hadn’t even appeared in the comics when Christopher Nolan began his Dark Knight trilogy. They’ll bring a different kind of threat to Reeves’s Gotham, one that feels like a major and appropriately twisted upgrade on the Zodiac-adjacent Riddler, rather than a return to more familiar Bat territory.

The timing of these new reports is notable. It looks like Batman Part 2 is finally moving into production, however Warner Bros. has yet to officially confirm the roles Stan and Johansson will play, just the cast. Furthermore, how well Dent fits into the Court of Owls is open to question, which may be why Snyder revealed that former Marvel star Stan may actually be portraying a different character: serial killer Victor Zsasz.

Here’s another character who may not be as well-known to casual Batfans (he’s been around since 1992), but who could fit perfectly into Reeves’ rougher, more bloodcurdling vision of Gotham City: a sadistic psychopath who’s exactly the kind of man the Court of Owls might hire if Batman started encroaching on their murderous real estate interests.

In this version of events, Harvey Dent will be portrayed by Atlanta’s Brian Tyree Henry, with the suggestion that he may not end up turning into Two-Face after all. This seems like a more innovative move for Reeves, since Nolan’s films already tell the story of a coin-flipping lawyer’s descent into darkness. And while some might say that the Court of Owls pulls from the same well as the League of Shadows – which we saw in both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises – there are nuances that make the former feel like a more natural fit for Reeves’ uglier, sicker Gotham City.

The Nolan League (led by the brilliant Liam Neeson’s Ra’s al Ghul) were outsiders, a ninja sect convinced that urban renewal could be achieved through mass murder. The court is something more sinister and more local. Instead of the invaders coming to punish Gotham for its wayward ways, they represent the sins of the city made flesh. How does Barry Keoghan’s Joker fit into all of this? There are rumors that this talkative, green-haired psychopath will be in Reeves’ sequel after all, even if he spends most of it in Arkham Asylum, where Batman uses him to confront Hannibal Lecter.

Maybe that’s for the best: After all, Warner Bros. needs to make sure it’s leaving something suitably toxic in the tank for the third installment, and nothing could round out this new Batman trilogy better than the Clown Prince of Gotham as the final boss.