The Batman Part 2 casting rumor reveals an even darker movie than the original

From the tragic sci-fi horror of Mr. Freeze to the shadowy conspiracy of the Court of Owls, speculation has run rampant over the past several years regarding which villain director Matt Reeves might pluck from the pages of DC Comics for his The Batman follow-up. But recent reports surrounding The Batman Part II are beginning to pick up steam, and while none of them should be taken as fact just yet, they offer a compelling glimpse into what Reeves may have planned next for Gotham City.

According to an unconfirmed report from independent reporter Jeff Sneider, Sebastian Stan is being lined up to play the psychotic serial killer Victor Zsasz, while Brian Tyree Henry will portray the politician-turned-villain Harvey Dent. Neither casting has been confirmed by Warner Bros., DC Studios, or any of the major Hollywood trades, so this remains in rumor territory. Still, if the report proves accurate, it suggests Reeves is sticking with the same grim crime thriller atmosphere that helped make The Batman such a success.

Why Victor Zsasz is perfect for The Batman II

Victor Zsasz occupies a rather strange place in Batman’s rogues gallery. He’s recognizable enough to appear across comics, animation (Harley Quinn, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War), and video games (Arkham Asylum series), but he’s rarely anyone’s favorite villain. His entire schtick is unsettlingly simple: a serial killer who carves a tally mark into his own skin for every victim he claims. Zsasz lacks the theatrical flair of the Joker, the operatic tragedy of Mr. Freeze, or the larger-than-life presence of Bane — which is why he feels perfectly suited for The Batman Part II. He’s the exact flavor of Gotham sicko that fits Reeves’s world.

The first The Batman outing was less a superhero blockbuster than a detective thriller in a cape and cowl. Drawing heavily from films like Se7en and Zodiac, the director transformed the Riddler into a serial murderer and framed Batman as an investigator navigating a city rotting from the inside out. In that context, Zsasz feels less like an unexpected choice and more like an inevitable one.

The rumors also suggest Colin Farrell’s Penguin could appear in flashbacks tied to Zsasz’s origin. Again, that’s far from confirmed, but it would make sense. In some versions of the character’s backstory, particularly 1996’s The First Cut is the Deepest, Zsasz’s descent into madness begins after he loses his fortune gambling at Penguin’s Iceberg Lounge, a devastating loss that creates in him an insatiable appetite for murder.

If that’s the route Reeves is taking, it would continue one of the most consistent ideas running through both The Batman and The Penguin: Gotham’s villains aren’t born from freak accidents or comic book science, but are products of the city’s criminal ecosystem. It’s also what makes the Harvey Dent rumor such an interesting addition.

Which version of Harvey Dent will we get in The Batman II?

Image: Warner Bros.

Dent, at least initially, isn’t even a villain, but a prosecutor and politician. He’s one of Gotham’s few public servants trying to drag the city toward something resembling justice. If Henry is indeed playing the character, Reeves could be laying the groundwork for a long-term Two-Face story, rather than rushing immediately to the coin-flipping criminal most audiences know. (It also wouldn’t be the first time a Black actor portrayed Gotham’s future district attorney. Billy Dee Williams famously played Dent in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), though shifting creative plans prevented him from making the eventual transition into Two-Face on screen.)

For now, everything remains firmly in the rumor mill. Until Warner Bros. says otherwise, there’s no guarantee that Stan is playing Zsasz or that Henry is playing Dent. In fact, there’s no guarantee either Batman villain will appear in the film at all, but the rumors are quite exciting nonetheless. If true, they prove Reeves may have little interest in leaving Gotham’s darkest alleyways behind, which might be disappointing for fans hoping to see the filmmaker embrace the weirder corners of Batman lore.

But if there’s one thing we can glean from the rumor mill, it’s that The Batman Part II will be one of the Caped Crusader’s darkest and most grounded stories yet when it arrives in theaters on October 1, 2027.