Matt Reeves has spoken about the persistent rumors that Robin the Boy Wonder will appear in The Batman – Part II, clarifying a point many need to hear. In the years since The Batman made its way through theaters in 2022, fans have feverishly speculated as to who might appear in the upcoming sequel, with a great deal of speculation surrounding the villains. One rumor in particular claimed that Robin was in the script for The Batman – Part II, although DC Studios President James Gunn denied this, insisting that very few people had even read it.
At the Emmys, Matt Reeves (via Comicbook Movie) was asked if he’s considered giving Batman a sidekick in the sequel. Reeves neither confirmed nor denied Robin’s role in The Batman – Part II, but he mentioned how, during the development process, it’s safe to assume many characters were mentioned or considered. Of course, just because a character is talked about, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll end up in the finished film. As Reeves put it:
“Well, sure, you talk about everything. There’s probably not any character that we didn’t talk about. ‘What could this be?’ ‘What could that be?’ That’s part of the beginning of anything, so…”
Robin’s Big DC Future
Reeves’ simply stated comment speaks to how rumors often act like a game of telephone. During the development process, numerous ideas are explored before the filmmakers settle on the story they want to tell. Yet any part of those talks, even if they’re just spitballing, can end up being reported on and treated as real news — similar to the way Gunn mentioned he considered Brainiac as the villain of Superman early on, but he was nowhere to be found in the finished film.
Robin is easily the second or third most important figure in Batman’s supporting cast, having appeared in Detective Comics #38 in 1940, making his debut before the Joker or Catwoman. While Robin is commonly associated with the Caped Crusader, he hasn’t been seen in a live-action film since 1997’s Batman & Robin, with the exception of an Easter egg reference in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises. The character will soon return to the spotlight, however — the Damian Wayne version will appear in the DCU’s Brave and the Bold, while Dick Grayson and Jason Todd are getting their own animated team-up movie, Dynamic Duo.
All that Robin exposure might be enough of a reason for Reeves to avoid the character for The Batman – Part II, as he likely wants his version of the hero to be drastically different from anything Gunn has planned for the DCU Batman. Given that Robin is a key figure in the Batman comics, it’s likely that the character’s potential role in the story was mentioned. It could have been expanded upon or quickly moved on from in favor of other characters. Maybe Reeves even talked about Condiment King or Crazy Quilt (though that seems far more unlikely). Either way, The Batman – Part II is still over two years away and filming won’t commence until 2026, so it’ll be some time until concrete details about the sequel surface.
