Sebastian Stan's The Batman Part II Role Has Been Revealed (And It's Perfect)

Matt Reeves' "The Batman Part II" continues to gain momentum as 2026 gets underway, as one casting announcement follows another. Recently, Sebastian Stan has joined Scarlett Johansson as the newest thespians to enter Reeves' Gotham City (and, ironically, both are veterans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe), and as soon as word of their involvement broke out, there has been rampant speculation about who they're playing. The mystery surrounding Johansson's character is still active, but now we can officially put the rumors about Stan's role to bed. According to The Hollywood Reporter's Heatvision newsletter, Stan will indeed be portraying Harvey Dent, the idealistic District Attorney whose destiny it is to have his face horribly scarred, which breaks his psyche and transforms him into the villainous Two-Face.

Unfortunately, there aren't any more details beyond that, so we can't say whether Stan will get to play the coin-flipping menace in "Part II" proper, or whether he'll be plain old Harvey for the majority of the film. Given the involvement of Johansson as well as the expected return of Barry Keoghan as the Joker, there may be too much going on for Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne to also deal with Big Bad Harv. Still, there's a good chance that Stan's casting implies that he'll get to give his take on the classic villain, if for no better reason than the actor is perfect for the role, especially given his recent work. Whatever the case may be, this news is further confirmation that "The Batman Part II" is shaping up to be just as exciting and special as its predecessor.

It's true that Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face, has, like so many "Batman" characters including the Caped Crusader himself, been represented on the big screen multiple times over. However, unlike Batman or the Joker, it feels like the character hasn't been given the proper balance each time out. Poor Billy Dee Williams never got the chance to turn his suave Harvey Dent from 1989's "Batman" into a villainous persona, while Tommy Lee Jones' manic take on Two-Face in 1995's "Batman Forever" barely showed any trace of the good man Harvey used to be. Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Two-Face from 2008's "The Dark Knight" came the closest, yet even there it felt like his transformation into Two-Face had barely happened before the film came to a close. Given how much time and care Matt Reeves took with the Riddler (Paul Dano) and the Penguin (Colin Farrell) in "The Batman," it's a good bet that both Harvey Dent and Two-Face will be well represented in "Part II."

After all, giving both sides of the character equal weight is part of the reason why you'd hire Sebastian Stan, given the actor's strengths. We know from his time playing James "Bucky" Barnes in the MCU that he plays conflicted very well. We also know that he can play a broad, cartoonish villain ("Hot Tub Time Machine," anyone?) as well as a more insidious one (as seen in "Fresh"). His most recent work is even more suited to the character, dealing with issues of facial differences in "A Different Man," and playing a particularly sociopathic Donald Trump in "The Apprentice." If Stan can bring even a little of the weight of these excellent performances to Harvey, then we may be getting the best on-screen Two-Face yet, no coin flip necessary.