It has been known for some time that after the success of “The Batman” with Robert Pattinson, “The Batman 2” and a series about the Penguin are in the works. In addition, however, many more villain spin-offs are now said to be in development.
In the course of the change of leadership at Warner Bros. this year, it has already been rumoured that the new boss David Zaslav also has big plans for DC’s comic book division, which belongs to the studio, and that he wants to focus on well-known and successful brands. A new background article from the Hollywood Reporter now shows how gigantic these plans really are.
In addition to “Man Of Steel 2” (including Henry Cavill’s comeback as Superman), “The Flash 2” and two potential new projects by “The Suicide Squad” and “Guardians Of The Galaxy” creator James Gunn, the company also wants to build on the success of “The Batman”, which brought in a whopping 770 million dollars worldwide this year. “The Batman 2” has therefore been a done deal for some time, as has a spin-off series about the penguin played by Colin Farrell. But that’s apparently not all…
I think for The batman 2, heart of ice should be a big inspiration for the sequel. id love to see gotham in a christmas aesthetic. pic.twitter.com/P1j25aRefp
– isama (@ISAMA_05) October 19, 2022
4 villains that would be perfect for The Batman 2. Personally I’d like to see Scarecrow as the main villain pic.twitter.com/CCXpKEtmP8
– Rogue (@ScreenRogue) October 18, 2022
MORE “THE BATMAN” SPIN-OFFS PLANNED
According to the aforementioned Hollywood Reporter article, “The Batman” creator Matt Reeves is currently meeting with several writers and directors to develop a whole series of films based around the Dark Knight’s extensive villainy. In the process, not only well-known to film audiences, but also some more offbeat antagonists are to take centre stage.
These include the Scarecrow, also known from Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy, who makes his enemies live through their worst fears with the help of a special gas, the monstrous shapeshifter Clayface and the crazy Professor Pyg. The latter is one of the most twisted and brutal Batman adversaries, as the pig-masked surgeon is notorious for kidnapping people and using chemicals and surgery to turn them into mindless slaves or human-animal hybrids.
A film about Pyg is likely to be all the more disturbing if the planned spin-offs go down a similarly dark notch as the crime thriller “The Batman”. What these newly revealed film plans mean for an equally rumoured series about the rogue prison Arkham Asylum is still unclear. It is possible that this will now become obsolete, but perhaps it could just act as a link between the villain spin-offs.
Whether the planned spin-offs will actually come to fruition is not guaranteed, as the projects are all still in a very early stage of development. However, it is a fact that Warner and DC are indeed working on a big new Batman universe with “The Batman” as the starting point and Matt Reeves as the director, which will be detached from the (by now rather loosely held together) DCEU around the Justice League.
