The Batman: Part 2 has a release date, October 1, 2027, but what it does not have is any kind of substantive description or promotion this early, only a growing list of cast members and hints about what’s coming from director Matt Reeves.

Now, as is always the case with any comic book movie these days, leaks are coming in about what’s on the way, including a big one about who Scarlett Johansson will likely be playing in The Batman: Part 2, if it pans out. Though the sourcing here is more solid than most.

Obviously, potential spoilers follow from here, but if you clicked on this article in the first place, I assume you want to know. I didn’t, but because I live on the internet, I saw this inadvertently, so oh well.

This comes via a DCULeaks post that sent some sort of indication of proof to the mod team, and joins some reporting from insider Jeff Sneider who broke much of this earlier. We have:

  • Scarlett Johansson is the main villain of the The Batman: Part 2, a killer obsessed with plants murdering the elite of Gotham with toxins. This would obviously be Reeves’ take on a “grounded” Poison Ivy, one who isn’t whipping sentient vines around.
  • The killings are originally believed to be the work of Sebastian Stan’s Zsasz, the bald serial killer, before it’s discovered it’s Ivy instead.
  • Ivy targeting the “elite” includes Charles Dance’s character, leading a “secret organization of the city’s most powerful figures.” The indication there would be the Court of Owls.

Reeves previously said that the movie would feature a villain that had never before been seen onscreen before. Obviously that would not be Ivy, previously played by Uma Thurman in the infamous Batman and Robin. And while this is probably forgotten, Chris Messina played Zsasz in Birds of Prey (though not as well as Anthony Carrigan on Gotham ). That leaves the Court of Owls, which only briefly appeared in Gotham , not in any movie.

This would all erase the idea that Sebastian Stan is playing Hush in the film, as this would be an entirely different storyline unrelated to that. Once again, we would be doing the “classic villain becomes a grounded serial killer” story, as we saw with The Riddler in the first film. We also know that Colin Farrell’s Penguin will briefly return for a few scenes, which take place after the events of his HBO show. We know The Batman: Part 2 takes place in the winter.

This all sounds a little odd, as we’re up to three serial killers now in two movies (counting Zsasz), but Ivy is certainly going to be wildly different than Riddler was. I look forward to hearing more if, in fact, this is the film's storyline.

Follow me on Twitter , YouTube , and Instagram .

Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy .