Director Matt Reeves confirmed during San Diego Comic-Con 2024 that Colin Farrell will return in The Batman – Part II, and that filming will begin in early 2025. Robert Pattinson will play the iconic DC hero once again, with The Batman – Part II to be released October 2, 2026. It will be over four years since The Batman premiered, introducing fans to a brand-new era of the Caped Crusader.

The Batman – Part II will continue after the events of the HBO original series, The Penguin, starring Farrell, reprising his role as the titular character following the events of the first film. The Penguin show will deal with the power vacuum left behind after Carmine Falcone’s death at the hands of The Riddler. Story details for The Batman – Part II are scarce, but with Penguin returning for the sequel, it seems that Reeves will continue to build out his version of Gotham’s underworld.

What Colin Farrell Being Confirmed For The Batman 2 Suggests About The Sequel’s Story

The Penguin’s latest trailer revealed a handful of characters that will be major players in the war for Gotham, including the Hangman, the alias of Carmine Falcone’s daughter, Sofia Falcone. The Hangman is a major character in the Batman: Dark Victory comics story who is directly tied to Two-Face throughout the story. Now that Farrell is coming back in The Batman – Part II, the film could have the character be enlisted by Two-Face to help destroy the last remnants of Gotham’s underworld, including any mobsters that survive the events of The Penguin.

Of course, Reeves could go in a completely different direction for his universe, opting out of Two-Face and the Batman: Dark Victory inspiration, instead focusing on Penguin being the big bad of Gotham. Penguin being a major antagonist for The Batman – Part II feels like a natural progression of the character following his rise in power in the first film and his series. This film could be the culmination of Penguin as a villain to Pattinson’s Batman, setting up another power struggle that could shape the third and final installment of Reeves’s Batman trilogy.

Fans have anxiously awaited news about The Batman – Part II since it was confirmed only a month after The Batman was released. Knowing that The Batman – Part II will begin filming early 2025 is great, but having Farrell reprise his role as Penguin again is the key here, hinting at possible story directions the sequel may take. The Penguin is next up for DC, though, and knowing the character will see his story continue beyond the series is exciting.