Earlier this year, The Batman - Part II director Matt Reeves officially announced the main cast for his long-awaited sequel on social media.
The filmmaker confirmed that Robert Pattinson (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Jeffrey Wright (Jim Gordon), Andy Serkis (Alfred Pennyworth), Colin Farrell (Oz Cobb/The Penguin), Jayme Lawson (Bella Réal) and Gil Perez-Abraham (Officer Martinez) will reprise their roles, alongside new cast members Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Charles Dance, Sebastian Koch and Brian Tyree Henry.
Reeves did not reveal the characters Gotham City's new additions will play, but we had been led to believe that Stan has been cast as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, Johansson as his wife, Gilda, and Dance as his father, Christopher.
Rumors soon circulated that this may not be the case, however, as The Hot Mic's Jeff Sneider said he'd heard that Stan is playing a different villain entirely, while Dance has been cast as the father of Johansson's character. More recently, Sneider followed up by claiming that Stan will actually play twisted serial killer Victor Zsasz, and Brian Tyree Henry will play Harvey Dent.
Johansson, meanwhile, is believed to be playing a version of Poison Ivy.
Stan has been spotted out in public with a shaved head, adding fuel to the Zsasz speculation, but the Thunderbolts* star has now confirmed outright that he is actually playing Harvey Dent.
During an interview with French publication Le Journal du Dimanche, Stan mentioned that he will take on the role of Gotham City's DA in The Batman - Part II when asked if he could share any details about Avengers: Doomsday.
"Honestly, I have absolutely no idea. Because we didn't have a script. We were just shooting scattered scenes. It's a different way of working, continuous, constantly evolving. The producers didn't want us to read it in its entirety, to avoid journalists asking us questions. (Laughs.) I've been following this rule for fifteen years, I'm used to it. I also can't say anything about The Batman: Part II , by Matt Reeves, where I play Harvey Dent [in theaters February 16, 2028, editor's note] . The beauty of this profession also lies in participating in projects of this scale, which I love as a viewer. Right now, I'm really looking forward to seeing The Odyssey , by Christopher Nolan; it looks amazing."
This is a direct quote attributed to Stan in the article, so it looks like we can put the speculation to rest... unless the actor is simply attempting to throw fans off the scent here! It seems unlikely, but it wouldn't be the first time an actor has misled or flat-out lied in an attempt to preserve the secrecy surrounding their role.
After several previous delays, The Batman - Part II was scheduled to arrive in theaters on October 1, 2027, but was recently pushed back to February 18, 2028.