Sebastian Stan may be headed for Gotham City. The Oscar-nominated star of “The Apprentice” is in talks to join Robert Pattinson in DC Studios’ “The Batman Part II.”
Stan is no stranger to costumed heroes and villains, having played Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier in numerous Marvel movies. It’s unclear who he will be playing in the upcoming Dark Knight adventure and whether he will be an adversary or an ally to Bruce Wayne.
The long-awaited superhero sequel, directed by Matt Reeves, is expected to begin shooting next spring for an October 2027 theatrical release from Warner Bros. “The Batman” opened in theaters in March 2022 and grossed $772 million at the worldwide box office.
“The Batman Part II,” written by Reeves and Mattson Tomlin, recently added Academy Award nominee Scarlett Johansson to an already star-studded supporting cast, with Colin Farrell returning as Oz Cobb (aka The Penguin), Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner James Gordon and Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth. Barry Keoghan is also expected to appear once more as the Joker. Johansson and Stan worked together in several Avengers adventures. He also previously appeared alongside Pattinson in “The Devil All the Time,” a slice of Southern gothic that debuted on Netflix in 2020.
“The Batman Part II” has endured a long gestation as Reeves has worked to top his critically acclaimed and gritty first take on the comic book adventure.
“It’s been a long journey, but I am so incredibly excited. I’m really proud of the script me and Mattson did,” Reeves told Variety at the Emmys in September.
The filmmaker also revealed the lengths to which “The Batman” team went to keep the story under wraps. “We put [the script] into a secret pouch that literally has a lock on it with a code. [Pattinson] was in New York at the time, and everything is high security.”
While “The Batman Part II” isn’t officially part of the newly relaunched DCU, it is still being developed under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios banner. The new cinematic superhero universe kicked off last summer with “Superman,” which grossed $615 million worldwide. “Supergirl” flies into theaters next (on June 26), followed by “Clayface” (dated for Sept. 2026) the “Superman” sequel “Man of Tomorrow” (July 2027) and a new “Wonder Woman” movie that’s in the works.
Stan most recently appeared in “Thunderbolts*,” an MCU feature that disappointed at the box office. His credits include “I, Tonya” and “A Different Man.” He will next appear in “Avengers: Doomsday” and in the thriller, “Fjord.”
DC Studios had no comment on the casting. Stan is repped by CAA and B-Side Management. Deadline first reported Stan’s casting.
