The end of The Batman set up many different options for director Matt Reeves to continue
his version of Gotham on the big screen.
Based on the inspired comics and villains of this
first film, how could this develop in a Batman sequel.
In this video, I'm going to be discussing what could happen in The Batman 2 following
the ending of Matt Reeves first film of a potential trilogy, looking at some of the
characters, storylines and other elements that might be considered.
This video will contain spoilers from The Batman, so if you haven't seen
the film yet, I would highly recommend watching this video after you've seen it.
But if you want to keep up to date on any of my content surrounding the The Batman,
it's potential sequels and the HBO Max spinoff shows, then
don't forget to support this upload by giving it a like rating, subscribing to the channel
and turning on your notifications.
Also, feel free to check me out on twitter, facebook,
reddit and instagram at cortex videos, which is all linked in the description below.
But without further a do, lets dive into some of the
potential things that could be seen a Batman sequel.
So while Matt Reeves epic detective Batman film tied up a lot of it's loose ends, acting
as it's own piece of storytelling, it did end with a few teases that will most likely
lead into the next Batman film, and I'm not gonna
lie, after watching The Batman 4 times already, I'm really looking forward to seeing what
Reeves and Pattinson do with the central character come the sequel.
We of course end The Batman, with Riddler meeting a new friend, in the Joker, at Arkham
State Hospital, Gotham City being flooded, yet up for the taking and
potentially open to be consumed by the Rogues Gallery that reside at the hospital or within
the city itself.
Yet, with this going on it's also a motivator for Batman to become that
beacon of hope that he now strives to be.
Hope will have to overcome the immense amount of darkness on the way, as The Batman Part
2, which might even be the title, could be one of
the biggest challenges for our caped crusader, in physical and mental ways that he hasn't
dealt with before.
The Batman began to go into the history of the Waynes in ways that we
hadn't expected, and with Matt Reeves giving us a version of the Waynes that is not all
good, it leaves the door open for that to go even further.
And not to mention that alliance with the Arkham family which was formed, allowing
the next films to explore the foundations of the city even more so and what that means
for right now.
So let's discuss what routes the filmmaker could take whether it be villains,
inspired storylines or both in the continuation of this live action take on Gotham city.
Starting with a villain that has been on the minds of fans for quite a while now, it's
no secret that the easiest way to explore the foundations of Gotham more deeply, would
be to introduce the Court of Owls.
With Gotham primed for a takeover, the court of Owls would be the strongest mental test
yet for the dark Knight and we could potentially see all of the
brutality in a storyline that revolves around Batman’s fight for survival in an underground
maze.
And while the filmmaker would have to change elements of this story like the Arkham
family for instance, the filmmaker has prooven in the first film that he can smoothly introduce
all different stoprylines and comic influences in fitting ways.
Just look at how in this film he balanced a Zodiac inspired Riddler
in a story that combines elements of the comics, Year one, the long Halloween and ego.
So it wouldn’t be out of the possibility to
bring in the Court of Owls in to this world as the next central villains, especially as
it would fit the detective tone and because in the first film, we may have had a tease
of them already.
While this may just be a nod, the first card Batman opens at the crime scene of the dead
mayor, includes an owl on the front with a cryptic riddle too and this could be just
planting the seed for that down the line.
Now I think they are a big possibility, but I see them being more of a final film villain,
if we did get a whole trilogy.
Because for one it would lead to reveals that potentially are
the biggest of the whole story.
And with the Court of Owls toying with the dark knight in multiple ways, other villains
could also be connected to that and make for a conclusion
of events with them that we are not ready for.
The Court of Owls are known as a secret society linked to Gotham city’s most wealthy
individuals, who kidnap child performers from the circus and these children ultimately grow
up to be the dangerous assassins known as Talons.
So right there, Batman has a brutal reason to go after them, and maybe this could
also link into Robin and the Joker in a final film, and that brutal storyline that we all
know off.
But the Owls storyline introduced a secret history for the city, one with supernatural
assassins working for an illuminati-esque foundation that had secretly been manipulating
Gotham for many years.
It goes deeper as Bruce and Grayson's family work out a connection
to them and it would only link into some of things we may have seen in Matt Reeves first
film.
We got brief information surrounding the Wayne family history, including Martha's
time in an institution and not knowing fully who killed the Waynes, so this could be the
first of many secrets to be revealed.
Maybe it could be done in a court of owls storyline,
but then again the question would be, how would the supernatural element fit into this
world.
Well, I guess we did see a potential nod to Bane's green venom at the end of The Batman,
so if that is what we think it is, then maybe we still could end a new trilogy with something
like the court of Owls.
We'll have to see but I do think they are a big villain candidate
comes future entries.
Moving on, something that has already been spoken about by many fans online and is something
that could hugely tie into the end of the first film, would be a winter themed sequel,
with a potential villain and new Batman tech.
The first film was very inspired by the long Halloween and it would make sense for a second
film to go into a winter setting following the flooding in Gotham and giving us a new
villain who director Matt Reeves would really like to see done well in the future.
The filmmaker said a few weeks back that he would love to
tackle an emotional and grounded Mr Freeze and the upcoming season would make a perfect
backdrop too that.
And not to mention that owls are the most active in winter, so maybe the
two villains that could come into this story could be a mix of the court of Owls and Mr
Freeze.
But again I think leaving the Owls until a final film would be more appropriate.
But if the next film did take place in a wintery themed Gotham it could tie into what we likely
would see, which would be Robert Pattinson's Batman upgrading his year one suit,
Batmobile and equipment to fit the conditions.
We can also see him eventually donning the cape and gliding over parts of city because
that wingsuit in the first film, while beneficial to escape the GCPD, was something that I don't
see staying around for much longer.
He's going to upgrade all of this equipment at some point and as his hero develops, the
next film would be the perfect place to do so, especially
if the conditions move from a rainy Gotham in the first one to a wintery themed Gotham
in the second.
It would only call for an upgraded set of tools.
Don't forget Reeves did include a wintery setting in his second Planet of the Apes film
and even had a lot of visual comparisons between The Batman and his film
Let Me In from a colour palette and cinematography standpoint, so he does like to present some
visual continuity across his work.
But even if we don't get that wintery setting and
villains that go along with that I can still see the caped crusader upgrading his tools
to fight whatever of the Rogues Gallery that stand in his way.
It's key to note as well, that Reeves recently said that the next film would
most likely go beyond year 2 so we could even see a few years pass between the ending of
the first film and the start of the second.
Either way, I'm sure things will get worse before they get better.
And speaking of things getting worse, the comic No Man's Land would totally tie into
the way the first film ended and I can definitely see some inspiration being carried through
to a sequel.
Batman: No Man's Land from 1999, was a story that introduced characters like Batgirl and
was the inspiration for things we saw in The Dark Knight Rises, primarily focusing
on a story about what happened to Gotham after the city was mostly destroyed by an earthquake.
It lead to an evacuation and then we got no man's land.
Bridges in Gotham were blown and everyone who was left in the city, were apart
of unprecedented warfare and crime.
Now while we got the Gotham floods in the first Batman film and while the second film
will probably not do the whole blowing of bridges thing
we saw in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, I think the inspiration here is the
idea of Gotham becoming a complete warzone for the
criminals that want to seize power.
I honestly can see this being a huge part of the opening events in The Batman sequel,
because the ending of the first film really does suggest that
things are going to worse before they get better, as Catwoman clearly outlines to Bruce
in their final conversation.
To the criminals, this will be an opportunity for a power grab,
that really challenges Batman more than he ever was expecting.
Penguin would of course be a likely option when it comes to street crime, but if No Man's
Land is a point of inspiration, it could get even deeper than that.
In the comic, it becomes a fight between almost everyone with even GCPD having to become a
gang to hold off the continuous wave of violence.
I think when it comes to the aftermath and what was
alluded to at the end, this will definitely be a source of the landscape of Gotham and
what it's becoming, but the central story and villain
is something that could be different within that.
After all, The Batman film took from various stories and wasn't just inspired by one, so
I can see reeves doing something like that in each of his films.
And speaking of another story that kind of reflects what was seen in No Man's Land, was
that of Batman: Zero Year, which comparitively, began with the city almost destroyed in a
massive flood.
Of course we got that at the end of The Batman, but moving forward it also tapped into Gotham
becoming quite the dystopian landscape controlled by The Riddler.
With Joker literally telling Riddler at the end
of the first Batman film that this is an opportunity for a comeback story, who's to say that Reeves
doesn't combine No Man's Land and Zero Year as two points of inspiration to set up
a future film with The Riddler and Joker taking control of Gotham.
It would all have to link into the progression of this story but what we
do know, is that Riddler and Joker are going to be a part of the future and it would make
sense if they come back to the city in a powerful way.
Zero Year also dealt with the early years of Batman and him figuring out what
it means to be a figure and symbol of hope that the city needs him to be.
And of course by the end of the film, he isn't quite there yet.
So it seems Reeves is definitely keen on this
story as the end of The Batman very much hints at that being the motivation down the line,
and having the comeback of the Riddler and the
Joker is something that is bound to happen.
Barry Keoghan’s proto version of the Joker was mainly heard and you could briefly see
his permanent smile, and again I think this is just
planting the seed for something more down the line and not neccesarily for the sequel.
But the idea of Zero Year's events is something that can be used around another villain such
as Mr Freeze or someone else.
And the same goes for Robin, who if he is apart of Reeves films, I can see that being
much further in the future too.
Heck with all of these different things that I'd love to see, I wouldn't be
surprised if Reeves did more then 3 Batman films because there's so much storylines and
characters that he could cover.
But while I don't think we're going to see the joker, Riddler's return or Robin until
at least the third film, the villain that I do think could be a huge part of the sequel,
is actually the one I talked about in my biggest
questions video the other day, and that is Hush.
Now while Matt Reeves has kind of moved around the question of Hush when's he's been
asked about him, he's never denied the possbility of seeing him, just like with Freeze and the
other villains that he's brought up in interviews.
But if there's one villain in a sequel that would perfectly build on some
of the unanswered questions surrounding the history of Gotham and the Waynes in the first
film, then Hush seems like a great one to tackle.
We also haven't seem him in a modern live action film and having quite the new adversary
makes it all the more interesting.
Reeves could be building up to the villains we know such
as joker, bane, Mr freeze, more of the riddler and many more, but this could be the background
to what becomes the foreground in The Batman 2 with someone like Hush.
It could be the transition point of Gotham into that hellscape
that No Man's Land and Zero Year taps into.
Hush also eventually teams up with with the Riddler to manipulate all of Gotham's
underground into taking Batman down.
And even in the film we've just seen, we do get the brief tease of Hush, where a reporter
named Elliot was murdered by a hit placed by Thomas
Wayne.
This is likely the father of Thomas Elliot, known as Hush, who in the comics was known
as the childhood friend of Bruce.
Obviously there would have to be changes to this
storyline and maybe Hush would be more of a side villain that ultimately comes into
the foreground, similar to Penguin in this first film, but all the links to the history
of Gotham, the Waynes and the murder of the Elliot, gives
this storyline the potential to be very prominent if Reeves wants to go down that line.
Or maybe it's just going to continuously act as an easter egg for fans who know the character
of Hush.
I guess we can only wait and see but it is interesting to think about if Reeves wants
to build on the secrets and history of Gotham and really use that to propel the future
of the city into question.
What we do know about the sequel and whatever route Reeves wants to go in, is that Robert
Pattinson's Batman and Alfred played by Andy Serkis will be back in the second film, alongside
that of James Gordon, who apparently now isn't getting the GCPD series that was originally
planned.
That show has now been replaced by an Arkham Asylum show, which could be setting up
some of the villains we'll see in future films or maybe we'll even get a lot more of the
Riddler and Joker.
There's also the Penguin HBO max show which will go deeper into Colin
Farrell's Oz and then there's still questions over whether Zoë Kravitz’s Selina Kyle
will return after departing Gotham City for Bludhaven.
Maybe we'll get a Catwoman show that introduces that of Nightwing in the process
and maybe she'll be spending some time away from Gotham before she return's in a later
film.
Anything could really happen come The Batman 2
and I'm sure we'll get plenty of the infamous rogues Gallery entering the frame and trying
to seize Gotham after the events of the first film.
Reeves has established his world in a such a great way and it opens the door for
many of Batman's characters to be introduced in big and fitting ways.
But that was my video discussing some of the things we could see in The Batman 2.
The ending of this first film has opened up many possibilities for the second one and
honestly, Matt Reeves could go in any direction.
It does seem that we are going to go even deeper into history of the city and the Waynes,
so I think that most of these storylines and characters that
I've discussed, are ones that could very well be tackled.
Still, after this first film, I have faith in Reeves to construct a great story in the
sequel, whatever elements he adapts, and it could turn out to be even better than
the first one.
But let me know down below in the comments section what you would like to see in a next
Batman film alongside what you thought of the ending for this first entry.
For much more videos and news on The Batman, then subscribe to the channel and turn on
your notifications.
Also if you enjoyed this video remember to leave a like rating and follow me
on social media via the links in the description.
But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it, I've been Cortex and as always make some noise.