Scarlett Johansson in Final Talks to Join Robert Pattinson in “The Batman: Part II”
Scarlett Johansson’s years of service in the MCU have been over for some time now, but the star looks prepared to begin a new tour of duty in DC’s most dangerous city.
Johansson is reportedly in final talks to join Robert Pattinson in Gotham City in The Batman: Part II, the long-simmering follow-up to director Matt Reeves’ stellar 2022 film. Johansson would add considerable star power to a film that’s certainly not lacking for it, with Pattinson already surrounded by big-time performers reprising their roles, including Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb/The Penguin, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, and Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth—yet Johansson adds a new level of star power to the film. Part II is slated to begin filming next year, which gives Johansson time to film Mike Flanagan’s The Exorcist, which she recently signed on to.
Johansson recently unveiled her first directorial effort, her June Squibb-led drama Eleanor the Great (read our interview with her about the project here). She also recently starred in Jurassic World: Rebirth, once again showing off her action chops, as she had for years playing Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in the MCU.
There’s no word yet on who Johansson might play, which isn’t all that surprising given the secrecy around the Reeves and co-writer Mattson Tomlin’s script. One question at the top of The Batman fans’ minds is whether a certain Arkham prisoner who had a very small role in the film will have a larger one in Part II…that would be Barry Keoghan’s laughing lunatic. Perhaps you could guess who he was supposed to be?
The Batman dropped us into Bruce Wayne’s (Pattinson) world deep into his second year of being Gotham’s Dark Knight, just in time to tangle with a demented death-dealer calling himself The Riddler (Paul Dano), mucking it up with the ruthless Oz Cobb (Farrell) and getting help (and maybe a little heartache) from Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz). Farrell’s gangbusters performance as the Penguin led to HBO Max’s critically acclaimed spinoff series.
There are plenty of characters that DCU-heads could imagine Johansson playing—perhaps she’ll be Pamela Isley, aka Poison Ivy, the botanist-turned-eco-terrorist? Or what about Nora Fries, the cryogenically frozen wife of scientist Victor Fries (eventually to become Mr. Freeze), who, in some storylines, later becomes a villain herself? Or there’s always the Kim Basinger role from Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, Vicki Vale, a photojournalist doing a story on Batman, who becomes romantically entangled with Bruce Wayne, unaware of the connection.
The speculation can, and will, go on and on until some confirmation of Johansson’s role is revealed. With a performer this versatile, the dark sky of Gotham is the limit.
Featured image: BERLIN, GERMANY – JUNE 18: Scarlett Johansson attends the Berlin premiere of the movie “Jurassic World Rebirth” (Jurassic Park: Die Wiedergeburt) at Zoo Palast on June 18, 2025 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Gerald Matzka/Getty Images)
