Scarlett Johansson and Sebastian Stan have been confirmed as part of the cast for The Batman II, which is likely bringing production to the city once again
Scarlett Johansson has been cast in The Batman II(Image: WireImage)
Matt Reeves has confirmed the full cast of The Batman II, which could be exciting news for Liverpool. Production for the first film came to the city as Merseyside was used as a backdrop for Gotham in the 2022 film.
Robert Pattinson starred as The Caped Crusader as Reeves relaunched the superhero story in gritty, noirish style. The film was critically acclaimed as it boasts an 85% fresh rating and grossed around £578m worldwide. The success of this movie led to a sequel being announced, which will arrive in cinemas in October 2027.
Details of the story have been kept strictly under wraps but Reeves has confirmed some exciting news on social media platform X. In a series of posts yesterday (May 14) he announced a raft of stars had been cast in the film.
Perhaps most excitingly, Scarlett Johansson will officially make her first appearance in the DC Universe. Reeves shared a .gif of the Hollywood star in Under The Skin, alongside the caption: “Next exit, Gotham… Welcome.”
Another exciting casting addition was Sebastian Stan, who plays Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Attached to a .gif of the actor, the post was captioned: “In a Gotham state of mind… Welcome.”
A report in the Hollywood Reporter has suggested Stan could be playing the classic Harvey Dent character, which has previously been brought to the screen by Aaron Eckhart in the Dark Knight, Billy Dee Williams in Batman and Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever.
Sebastian Stan may be playing Harvey Dent in The Batman II (Image: FilmMagic)
The news is particularly exciting for the city as Liverpool was at the heart of the production of The Batman. Oscar winning Scouse production designer Lee Sandales, who played an important role in bringing production of the film to his home city.
Anfield Cemetery, St George’s Hall and the Liver Building all featured heavily in the film in prominent scenes. Reeves has spoken about how important the city was to look of the film in a previous interview when he confirmed why 75% of production would take place in Liverpool.
Reeves was asked by a fan at DC FanDome: “What should we expect to see from Gotham City in this film?” He responded: “It’s just as important as any of the Rogues Gallery, it’s sort of like the nature of this place is and the history of it is critically important to our story.
“One of the things I really wanted to do because it is the centre of this story, especially the history of corruption in the city, was I wanted to present it in a way that was really fleshed out.
“I wanted it to feel like an American city you’d never been to.” Although it’s not been confirmed, it is highly likely production in some form will return to the city for the second instalment, given how important a role Liverpool iconography played in the first film.
A newsletter from the Hollywood Reporter also confirmed Andor’s Luke Hull had joined The Batman II crew as production designer and fans spotted he shared an update from St George’s Hall on his Instagram last November.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.liverpoolecho.co.uk ’
