The Batman: Part II Finds New Director! New Justice League (2017)?

The Batman: Part II Finds New Director! New Justice League (2017)?

The Batman: Part II has gotten a lot of interesting, exciting, and concerning press in October. So much so that with a new director coming in to finish the film, people have been concerned of the film being a new situation of Justice League (2017). Am I concerned? Should WE be concerned? Here are my thoughts!

The Batman: Part II Situation: Before I share my thoughts, it is important to talk about what has been going on with The Batman: Part II. The Batman: Part II was first announced in April 2022, about six weeks after The Batman hit theaters and in January 2023 it had an October 2025 release date with Matt Reeves returning to write and direct and Robert Pattinson returning to star in the film. But due to the writers and actors strike in 2023, the movie got pushed back to October 2026. However, in December 2024 the movie got pushed back once again to October 2027 when that happened, there was not a clear reason as to why it got pushed back. Rumors started circulating that something was going on in Reeves’ personal life that was making it tricky to finish the script. In July 2026, despite already filming for a month the movie got pushed back once again to February 2028. Filming continued despite a release date being pushed back a few months. However, in October 2026 it was reported by the major trades that filming for The Batman: Part II had been paused due to personal issues in Reeves’ personal life, and it was not said how long filming would be paused for. About a week later, Oscar winning director Steven Soderbergh was confirmed to be the one to finish filming the film while Reeves was dealing with the personal issues. Reeves even commented and said that he is still involved with the film, he is going to be remotely helping and is planning to return to finish the film in the post-production process. 

Justice League (2017) Situation: If we are talking about The Batman: Part II’s production situation, then it is also important to talk about and remember what happened with Justice League (2017). Shortly after the release of Man of Steel in June 2013, Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer started working on a follow-up to Man of Steel, which ended up being Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as well as a Justice League movie being split up into two parts, part one releasing in November 2017 and part two releasing in June 2019. Filming for Justice League (2017) started April 2016 with Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, and Ezra Miller as The Flash were set to star in the film as the Justice League. In May 2017, Snyder left the project due to a personal tragedy involving his daughter. The director of The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, Joss Whedon was brought in to finish the film and complete the reshoots for the film scheduled from July 2017 to September 2017. The film finally released in November 2017, but it was not the film that Snyder, the creative team, or the cast wanted it to be. The film that Snyder set out to make was not the film that was released in theaters. WB used a personal tragedy in Snyder’s life to take Justice League away from him and rework the movie to their liking and make it feel more like an MCU compared to the darker tone that Snyder normally brings to his films. However, in May 2020 Snyder and Cavill confirmed that the Snyder Cut of the film would be released on HBO Max in 2021. Snyder was able to finish his film and release the cut of the film he wanted to release. 

My Thoughts 

         As you can see, the situations of The Batman: Part II and Justice League (2017) have some similarities with the director leaving the film due to personal family issues. In that regard, I can see why people are drawing the comparisons between the two films, but for me they are different for two different reasons. 

          First up, the situation with The Batman: Part II is much more positive than Justice League (2017). Now, I recognize and understand that a personal issue is not something to celebrate. But The Batman: Part II does not have that toxic production that Justice League (2017). Given everything that happened, Justice League (2017) is one of the grossest productions in film history. Using a personal tragedy in Snyder’s life to take his film away from him and change it to their liking is so gross. Snyder himself has even revealed that he still has not seen the 2017 theatrical film and said when promoting Zack Snyder’s Justice League that he did not use a single film that he did not shoot for the 2017 theatrical film in his version of the film. Honestly, Snyder’s reactions and feelings are completely valid, and he has been able to keep it civil given everything that happened. The big thing that is the difference between them is that Reeves is still involved with The Batman: Part II. In the report that was released when Steven Soderbergh took over, it said that Soderbergh went to Reeves and pitched him the idea of him finishing filming. They just had to get it finished and approved with DC who supported the idea. Soderbergh coming in and finishing the movie was given 100% support by Reeves, which is a key difference between the situations with Justice League (2017) and The Batman: Part II.  

         Second, James Gunn and Matt Reeves are friends. I do not see Gunn being super clueless or stupid with The Batman: Part II. The Batman (2022) was a critical hit and financial hit making $800 million when movies were not performing great. Gunn knows that if this movie hits and connects with audiences, they can be another $800 million movie, even $1 billion. I do not think Gunn would do something like that to Reeves. Gunn is still new in his position at DC Studios; he needs to and wants to keep on making friends and doing another Justice League (2017) will not accomplish that at all. 

Am I Nervous?: So, I am not at all nervous that The Batman: Part II will turn out to be another Justice League (2017). DC and WB are in a better place right now compared to 2016 and 2017 and a new director coming in to finish the film is not concerning because it has Reeves approval and permission. I can see why people draw that comparison, but the situations are different in my mind.