Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne hasn't been seen since 2022, but he will carry a significant regret when he returns in 2026's The Batman: Part 2.
The Batman left Gotham in turmoil after the Riddler set off explosions across the waterfront, flooding the city and ushering in a new era of crime and villainy.
The Dark Knight was last seen aiding recovery efforts as a symbol of hope, but more recently, he sat out the crime war explored in HBO's The Penguin.
The Batman 2 Director Teases Bruce Wayne's Next Story
During an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, The Batman director Matt Reeves revealed one massive regret that Bruce Wayne will have going into the sequel, which could explain his absence from The Penguin.
Reeves noted how, in the aftermath of The Batman, The Penguin explored a time of "great turmoil in the city" where "there's crime everywhere:"
"This was a time of great turmoil in the city, it's literally the week after what happened. Much of the city is in desperation, so police can't get everywhere, there's crime everywhere, it's a very, very dangerous time."
While Gotham falls in ruin, the director said how Robert Pattinson's Batman is "trying to grapple with the aftermath" of Riddler's murders and explosive flood of the city, for which he partly "blames himself:"
"[Batman’s] out there trying to grapple with the aftermath of everything that happened, which to some degree he blames himself for."
Speaking in the latest issue of SFX Magazine (via Comic Book Movie), Reeves shared more plot details for The Batman 2.
He explained how the sequel will deliver an "epic story about deeper corruption" and take Bruce Wayne to some unexpected places:
"We've shared [the script] as we've been going along with DC, and they're super excited. It's going to dig into the epic story about deeper corruption and it goes into places [Bruce Wayne] couldn't even anticipate in the first one."
The director then said that "the seeds of where this goes are all in the first movie" and explores new elements of Batman as he continues battling forces that "can't be entirely exorcised:"
"The seeds of where this goes are all in the first movie & it expands in a way that will show you aspects of the character you never got to see. Batman is constantly battling these forces. But those forces can’t be entirely exorcised. So the next movie delves deeper into that."
What Bruce Wayne's Regrets Mean for The Batman 2
Throughout The Penguin's epic gang war and major shifts in Gotham's criminal underworld, many fans have been quick to question Batman's absence.
There were rumors that Robert Pattinson would appear in The Penguin, but those proved unfruitful. The closest fans saw to seeing Batman in the HBO spin-off was the Bat-Signal lighting up the sky and Oz dancing high in the sky.
As Bruce Wayne will be struggling with the guilt of his failure in the aftermath of The Batman, perhaps he may be taking a break from his heroic activities that may have sent him into hiding or out of Gotham altogether.
That would explain why he didn't interfere in the events of The Penguin and could suggest he will need a prompt in The Batman 2 to don the cowl again.
Exactly what could pull Batman back into gear in the 2026 sequel is unclear, but it could involve the arrival of a new villain who either has ties to the Wayne family (akin to the Riddler) or lands a personal attack on someone close to Bruce.
Batman has one of the most famous rogues' galleries in all comics, and it has yet to be confirmed which one Matt Reeves will explore next for the sequel. One report claimed Clayface would take a major role in The Batman 2, meaning Reeves could deliver the live-action debut for the disguised villain.
The Penguin and The Batman are streaming on Max. The Batman: Part 2 hits theaters on October 2, 2026.
