With director Matt Reeves dealing with a “family matter” and the clock ticking down toward a release date for The Batman Part II, we now know how Warner Bros. plans to finish the film: Director Steven Soderbergh will step in for Reeves, overseeing the shoot in London. while Reeves remains in Los Angeles.
In a statement about his joining work on the film, Soderbergh said…
I thought Matt Reeves’ work on The Batman was stunning; it was intentional, specific, and rigorously coherent. The goal here is to work with Matt and his team to generate footage that will integrate seamlessly with what’s already been shot so Matt can properly finish his film.
Warner Bros. announced production on The Batman Part II was pausing for Reeves to attend to his family issue two weeks ago. But the film has been delayed numerous times already; it’s been four years and counting since The Batman first introduced Robert Pattinson’s new interpretation of the Dark Knight. Waiting longer for Reeves runs the risk of forcing Warners to push the film back yet again.
On social media, Reeves clarified that he was “not leaving The Batman Part II” and that he was “profoundly grateful to Steven for coming to my aid during this challenging time to help me finish principal photography.”
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Soderbergh’s involvement is interesting. He’s made big movies in the past — most famously his trilogy of Ocean’s movies — but in recent years he’s focused on smaller-scale projects like Presence, The Christophers, Kimi, and Black Bag. But Soderbergh also tried to convince Disney to greenlight a Star Wars movie he wanted to make with Adam Driver, an effort that ultimately proved unsuccessful. In some way, this gives Soderbergh the chance to scratch that itch to take charge of a massive Hollywood production.
On the DC side, the situation recalls what happened behind the scenes of Justice League, when Zack Snyder stepped down from the middle in the middle of production and Joss Whedon was hired to finish principal photography. The results in that case weren’t ideal; they didn’t really feel like a Zack Snyder movie or a Joss Whedon movie. Hopefully this time, with Reeves still involved (albeit remotely), the finished film will still capture his vision for his Batman sequel.
The Batman Part II is currently scheduled to open in theaters on February 18, 2028.
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