I have no real problem with Kravitz's Catwoman, although I do think she's generally overrated to some degree, I just all-around prefer ScarJo over her.

Man the Phantasm?? That's such a cool idea... I would've never even thought of that character thinking of all the directions the movies could go. I'm fairly certain Mask of the Phantasm is the only time that character has ever popped up.


But yeah TC, as others have pointed out, that's a really revered movie. Most fans consider The Animated Series the hands down best Batman IP of all time - and Mask of the Phantasm is peak BTAS.


The Phantasm and Court of Owls in the same movie... Reeves is in his bat-bag.

Yeah, I didn't mean to disparage it. I used to love the old animated series and I'm sure this is just as good if not better. I was more laughing at the idea of it being some kind of cinephile barometer or whatever.

TODAY on THE INSNEIDER: Inside Scarlett Johansson's casting in THE BATMAN PART II, including which Oscar winner passed on the role first. Plus, an update on Disney's live-action TANGLED movie...https://t.co/QvLdMWJnKl pic.twitter.com/oRbtTpjDLj

— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) December 4, 2025

Quote:

---

Yesterday, the fine folks at Giant Freakin' Robot, Nexus Point News, and Deadline dropped a collective bombshell on the internet - Scarlett Johansson is in final negotiations to star opposite Robert Pattinson in The Batman Part II.

When I first heard the news, I was a little surprised, as I figured that Johansson would be too busy shooting Mike Flanagan's new Exorcist movie to do the Batman sequel, but sources tell me that her deal has been in the works for a while, and her casting was only announced after her schedule was worked out.

That only just happened, for as recently as last week, Johansson's casting was still very much up in the air, according to sources.

So here's what happened.

Johansson was not the first actress offered this mysterious role, as I'm told that two-time Oscar winner Emma Stone was offered the part first, and she turned it down, though it's unclear why. I know she wanted a big payday for Marvel's Fantastic Four movie, and I imagine she'd want the same for The Batman Part II.

In any event, Johansson was already down the line with Flanagan, having sparked to his fresh take on the Exorcist franchise.

When Johansson heard that Stone passed on The Batman Part II, she instructed her team to pursue it aggressively and do whatever it took to figure out her schedule so she could do both movies.

As a two-time Oscar nominee, Johansson doesn't exactly come cheap, but I've heard whispers that she may have taken a lower salary upfront for The Batman Part II in exchange for points on the backend, ultimately betting on the success of the sequel.

It's unclear whether Stone was willing to make a similar concession or if the role simply didn't speak to her.
Said role remains under wraps, and while the character could be positioned as a new love interest for Pattinson's Bruce Wayne, it's ultimately believed to be villainous in nature.

Director Matt Reeves has said in the past that the villain has never been done before in live-action, which would rule out Poison Ivy, who was played by Uma Thurman in 1997's Batman & Robin.

There's another male villain as well - possibly Doctor Arkham. But that's just a rumor for now.

---

TL;DR...

Emma Stone reportedly passed on starring in ‘THE BATMAN: PART 2’ before Scarlett Johansson was in talks.

(Source: https://t.co/hJHr60OaRL) pic.twitter.com/jGRWum1n6R

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) December 4, 2025

RUMOR: The male villain of ‘THE BATMAN 2’ is possibly Doctor Arkham.

(via https://t.co/fjYnkeq5ov) pic.twitter.com/81pgao9dgY

— The Batman Film News 🦇 (@TheBatmanFilm_) December 4, 2025

Obviously, my post about Mask of the Phantasm was "tongue in cheek" but really, that's a massive spoiler for anyone who hasn't seen that movie. It's a shame it's coming out so blatantly. The mystery of who the Phantasm is sits at the center of the narrative. It truly is one of the best Batman story lines and uses all the voice actors from Batman the Animated Series. You should do yourself a favor and watch it.

This isn't like announcing who is playing Poison Ivy or the Penguin.

It will be interesting to see how Matt Reeves would weave in the plot of the Phantasm, knowing so many are already aware of who she is. You kind of lose the ability to do a reveal like in Mask of the Phantasm or the reveal of Talia al Ghul in the Dark Knight Rises.

Quote:

---

You kind of lose the ability to do a reveal like in Mask of the Phantasm or the reveal of Talia al Ghul in the Dark Knight Rises.

---

If anything, this is reason enough not to repeat roughly the same twist/surprise, with yet another love interest. Reeves can't draw from that well again after Nolan already did it.

I obviously haven't see Mask of the Phantasm (I'll try and watch it soon), so I don't know the structure there, but if I had to guess, in purely thematic terms, Reeves is going to play it straight/chronologically and avoid any kind of twist. Think of it this way...

We already know that Bruce is going to get a lot more screen time in this movie. So maybe Andrea is the one to draw Bruce out of the shadows, give him a life outside of Batman, etc. Through her he "sees the light" so to speak, gets a taste of normalcy, and maybe even contemplates giving up being Batman altogether. But then Andrea's father is murdered and she becomes the Phantasm - vengeful, out for blood, etc. To that end, she not only becomes a twisted mirror for Bruce - he sees his origin story in her, her going wrong where he went right, etc - there's also an irony there that the one thing that was giving Bruce a life outside of Batman is now the very thing pulling him back in, and he has to commit for whatever reason - as Batman - to stop her. The theme/message being that he can't take the "easy" way out just yet - that Batman is his true calling, not Bruce-with-the-normal-life, with Andrea/Phantasm serving as the thematic fulcrum on that journey.

Something along those lines.

I could, of course, be totally off, though.

TCTTS said:

---

Quote:

---

You kind of lose the ability to do a reveal like in Mask of the Phantasm or the reveal of Talia al Ghul in the Dark Knight Rises.

---

If anything, this is reason enough not to repeat roughly the same twist/surprise, with yet another love interest. Reeves can't draw from that well again after Nolan already did it.

I obviously haven't see Mask of the Phantasm (I'll try and watch it soon), so I don't know the structure there, but if I had to guess, in purely thematic terms, Reeves is going to play it straight/chronologically and avoid any kind of twist. Think of it this way...

We already know that Bruce is going to get a lot more screen time in this movie. So maybe Andrea is the one to draw Bruce out of the shadows, give him a life outside of Batman, etc. Through her he "sees the light" so to speak, gets a taste of normalcy, and maybe even contemplates giving up being Batman altogether. But then Andrea's father is murdered and she becomes the Phantasm - vengeful, out for blood, etc. To that end, she not only becomes a twisted mirror for Bruce - he sees his origin story in her, her going wrong where he went right, etc - there's also an irony there that the one thing that was giving Bruce a life outside of Batman is now the very thing pulling him back in, and he has to commit for whatever reason - as Batman - to stop her. The theme/message being that he can't take the "easy" way out just yet - that Batman is his true calling, not Bruce-with-the-normal-life, with Andrea/Phantasm serving as the thematic fulcrum on that journey.

Something along those lines.

I could, of course, be totally off, though.

---

So I finally watched Mask of the Phantasm and yeah it's pretty good. Granted, all these years later a lot of it is so surface level and kind of cheesy, but for what it is I was entertained. If anything, I love the look/vibe of it (and the animated series in general), to the point where, after the Pattinson run, they really need to do a live-action Batman set in the '40s and '50s (same for Superman for that matter).

All of that said, I stand by exactly what I posted above. But now, with added context, I can go into a little more detail...

- There are times when Andrea is damn near a spitting image of a 1940s-ish Emma Stone, so I totally get that casting and am more convinced than ever that the live action role is, indeed, Andrea Beaumont. That said, Johansson can better-pull-off that voluptuous/buxom/femme fatale vibe and, like I said, earlier, is a better fit for the action aspects of the character as well.

- Based on what I proposed above, the flashbacks to college-aged Bruce/Andrea would essentially, at least in terms of a basic, "meet cute"/fall-in-love conceit, essentially make up, say, the first half of The Batman Part II. Except no flashbacks, with the two characters falling in love in the wake of the events of the first movie.

- From Wikipedia, this also plays into exactly what I was saying earlier: "In Mask of the Phantasm, producer Alan Burnett 'wanted to do a big love story with Bruce because we hadn't really done it on the TV show. I wanted a story that got into his head.' Burnett centered Andrea in his conception of the film's story: 'We wanted to make a big movie story. We were telling a story about 'the girl who got away'. The one woman who could have stopped Bruce from ever becoming Batman.' The resulting narrative, which dealt with Bruce's decision to become and remain Batman, hinged on Bruce and Andrea's relationship." To that end, I stick by this as well: "The theme/message being that he can't take the 'easy' way out just yet - that Batman is his true calling, not Bruce-with-the-normal-life, with Andrea/Phantasm serving as the thematic fulcrum on that journey."

- Andrea's father Carl being a financier/money guy for the mob would be perfect too, considering how mob-heavy the first movie and The Penguin were. In fact, I wonder if Carl's murder could even be the murder that sets the events of the movie in motion, leading to Bruce/Batman having to investigate/do his detective thing, that's how he meets Andrea, and they fall in love. However, the more Bruce/Batman investigates, the more sinister things get, ultimately leading to… the Court of Owls? Something along those lines?

- Either way, I would definitely leave the Joker out of this iteration and save him for the third movie. There are next to no rumors that the Joker will be appearing in Part II, and I just think it's cleaner if it stays that way.

- Again from Wikipedia, and building on my thematic guess in the post above: "Andrea serves as a foil for Batman. The characters are very similar; they both don an intimidating costume and speak to the gravestones of their parents (as if holding a conversation with the deceased). The paralleling of their characters - most importantly the death of their parents at the hand of criminals - highlights how different they are: Though they both became vigilantes, Andrea chose to become a killer, following a warped code of "eye for an eye" justice, while Bruce chose a code of ethics that forbids killing." Hell, Bruce even says, "But AndI, what will vengeance solve?," which is directly in sync with Bruce's journey in the first movie, going from "I am vengeance" to a symbol of hope.

However it all plays out, all I know is that I would be shocked at this point if the character isn't Andrea. There are simply way too many signs/parallels pointing in that direction.

Been a while since I saw the original movie. The twist is a surprise to both Bruce and the audience, right?

What if this new movie changes that where the audience knows the reveal, but Bruce does not leading to a lot of tension between what the audience knows vs. what Bruce and Batman know.