The Batman 2 Has Been Delayed A Full Year As Warner Bros. Figures This Whole DC Thing Out
The DC Universe might once again be in trouble. While Warner Bros. Discovery is considering selling the 100-year-old studio that keeps throwing finished movies in the trash, and the DC Universe prepares to reboot with the release of James Gunn's "Superman" next year, the other pillar of DC is taking a little break before coming back.
Reports are coming in that Matt Reeves' "The Batman: Part II" is no longer opening on October 3, 2025; Deadline says the movie is now releasing a whole year later, on October 2, 2026.
According to Deadline, the new date is the result of delays due to the dual strikes that hit Hollywood last year as studios got so greedy they'd rather see the whole industry stop for over 100 days rather than provide better working conditions to the folks who make their movies. But it also makes a certain amount of sense that James Gunn and Peter Safran's new DC Studios can now have an entire year to take the DC spotlight in between the release of the ludicrously expensive "Joker: Folie a Deux" and the return of Robert Pattinson's emo Bruce Wayne.
The Dark Knight Rises ... after a little break
Of course, such a long release date push has historically been something of a bad omen for the quality of the film in question. Just look at how much "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" got delayed, and how bad that movie performed.
Does this mean "The Batman 2" will be bad? Of course not. But it does mean that the powers that be are seemingly reworking their whole DC strategy following a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad 2023 where all their very expensive superhero movies severely underperformed. With so many upcoming DC projects in the works as part of phase one of Gunn and Safran's DC Universe reboot, it might actually be a good idea to slow down, take a pause, and re-examine their strategy. This is especially important as DC will now have more room to test how well its canonical, in-continuity movies will be received while still releasing standalone, non-canon projects like "Joker 2." We'll see how this all plays out when "The Batman: Part II" eventually rides into theaters on October 2, 2026.