While comic book fans can still look forward to one upcoming DC movie hitting theaters in 2026 — James Watkins’ creepy Clayface — we’re still sadly a ways off from reconnecting with Matt Reeves’ Gotham City. That said, The Batman: Part II is filming, and Reeves surprised the fandom by officially confirming some of the new and returning actors starring in the sequel. But no such confirmations were made regarding the new additions’ characters.
Obviously Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne and other established Gothamites will be back for the second feature, but what of the latest recruits: Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, Charles Dance, Brian Tyree Henry and Sebastian Koch? Here’s a basic look at what roles fans are thinking these actors are set for, based in part on pre-confirmation rumors.
Actor | Speculated Batman Part II Role |
|---|---|
Sebastian Stan | Harvey Dent / Two-Face |
Scarlett Johansson | GIlda Dent |
Charles Dance | Christopher Dent |
Bryan Tyree Henry | Harvey Bullock |
Sebastian Koch | Hugo Strange |
On the one hand, the assumptions above all make a certain amount of sense, in that none of the speculation seems bizarrely over the top. If someone was trying to say Scar-Jo is actually playing The Joker's daughter, that would be a tad too far for me to buy into it. But on the surface, everything above tracks.
So why didn't Matt Reeves go all the way by confirming each of the roles that the new actors will be taking on? Even if he was intent on keeping Henry and Koch's roles under wraps, surely it would have made sense to the filmmaker to give fans a bone by validating all the predictions and assumptions about the Dent family's casting. Maybe it's because we've been wrong this whole time.
Rumor Suggests Batman Part II Castings Aren't For Roles We Think
The second Reeves' posts started spreading without any specific corroboration about the roles Stan, Johansson and others were playing, I started to think that something was fishy about it all. And I'm not just talking about Oz Cobb's B.O.
Those pangs of disbelief were seemingly justified when noted Hollywood insider Jeff Sneider shared a possible inside scoop on the latest episode of The Hot Mic shared to YouTube. There, Sneider revealed the grain-of-salt update from one of his sources who claimed that the current casting assumptions are off-base.
Sebastian Stan's Role
The insider says Stan is set to play a villain that isn't Two-Face, but doesn't indicate what the role actually is (allegedly). That would absolutely make sense for why the actor has been bulking up recently, since there isn't much of a reason for Stan to bring his muscles to swole levels to play a lawyer. Getting half of one's face/body gnarled up by acid isn't a fast track to buff-dom, and though Two-Face has never been depicted as a weakling, he handles his problems via guns and henchmen, not fistfights.
Given Stan and Robert Pattinson's similar ages (43 and 40, respectively), a lot of fans (like myself) have been holding out hopes that the MCU star is joining Reeves' Bat-verse as Tommy Elliot, otherwise known as the mega-villain Hush. The Batman linked the Elliot family to the Waynes' murders, and The Penguin gave insight into Gotham City's Elliot Bridge and its namesakes. It'd be weird to lay out that groundwork with no payoff in Part II, but we obviously can't say for sure just yet where it's going.
Charles Dance's Role
The other claim made in the grain-of-salt email sent to Jeff Sneider is that Game of Thrones vet Charles Dance will be playing the father of Scarlett Johansson's character. Which one could take in several ways, especially if one believes Stan is playing Hush. So let's take a big swing here.
This switcheroo detail doesn't necessarily negate the previous belief that Dance is playing the father of the District Attorney who becomes Two-Face. It does, however, set up the idea that the Black Widow star could be portraying a gender-swapped version of Two-Face. Or maybe neither actor will be part of the live-action Dent family.
Scarlett Johansson's Role
If Scar-Jo isn't playing Gilda or a would-be Two-Face, could she be taking on the role of Andrea Beaumont, introduced as the titular vigilante in 1993's Batman: Mask of the Phantasm? That would probably get fans generally more pumped than a female Two-Face, especially if Dance would be locked in as Andrea's father Carl Beaumont.
I do still like the idea of Johansson playing The Long Halloween's take on Gilda Dent, given the sordid events that play out in that arc. But I wouldn't complain about seeing her as any of The Batman: Part II's villainous entities.
Sneider and host John Rocha also speculated about whether or not Brian Tyree Henry could be stealthily playing a race-swapped Harvey Dent and Two-Face, which sounds pretty fantastic to me. I'd take Henry as Batman as well. Or whatever role he wanted, really.
Hopefully we'll find out whether or not these speculation sessions were worthy of happening long before The Batman: Part II actually hits theaters on October 1, 2027.
