A director steps back, a colleague steps in
Matt Reeves, who has overseen the Batman series since taking the directing job on The Batman in 2017, is staying away from the set of The Batman Part II while he attends to a private family situation. Steven Soderbergh, known for Ocean's 11, Magic Mike and Traffic, reached out to Reeves offering assistance and will step in to wrap up principal photography. The arrangement has Soderbergh filming in London while Reeves works from Los Angeles, before taking a larger role in post-production there. Roughly two thirds of the movie is finished, with a release planned for Feb. 18, 2028.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6][S7][S8]
Reeves addressed the news publicly on X after it broke Thursday, writing that he is not leaving The Batman Part II and expressing profound gratitude to Soderbergh for coming to his aid during a challenging time to help finish principal photography. He also thanked everyone for their concern and well wishes. Reeves remains a more-than-respected colleague at Warner Bros. and DC, where he is a producer behind this weekend's Clayface and was a driving force on the HBO spinoff The Penguin. The studio has coalesced around him in this delicate moment.[S1]
Soderbergh's statement and the film's cast
In a statement, Soderbergh praised Reeves' work on The Batman as stunning, calling it deliberate, precise and tightly consistent. He said the aim is to collaborate with Reeves and his crew to capture material that blends smoothly with the footage already completed, allowing Reeves to properly finish his film. Robert Pattinson plays Bruce Wayne and Batman in The Batman Part II, and the franchise gains new cast members including Scarlett Johansson and Sebastian Stan.[S1]
A history of director changes at DC
DC Studios and its parent Warner Bros. have weathered abrupt directorial swaps on their films before. Nine years back, Zack Snyder, dealing with a family tragedy and waning studio confidence, was swapped out for Joss Whedon partway through 2017's Justice League. Superman films also saw upheaval when Richard Donner was dismissed from 1980's Superman II after filming portions while also making the first Superman, with Richard Lester taking his place.[S1]
