The first set photo from Matt Reeves' The Batman: Part II hints at another connection to a notable DC comic arc. 2022's The Batman already took inspiration from notable comics like Batman: Year One, Batman: Ego, and Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Batman: The Long Halloween. With The Batman 2 only just heading into production after four years, there is still very little known about the sequel, but the hints and clues dropped so far suggest it will once again draw upon The Long Halloween for inspiration.
Matt Reeves took to social media to share the first photos from the test shoot for The Batman - Part 2. The imagery features the Batmobile speeding through a wintry night, with snowflakes cascading through the air. Reeves accompanied the post with the caption, "Snow Tires."
This confirms that The Batman: Part 2 will, as speculated, be set in Gotham City during the winter, for at least some of its run. The previous film spanned a week, beginning on October 31st, aka Halloween. This also lines up with where the spin-off show, The Penguin, left off, with the Batman sequel expected to begin shortly after the events of this show.
The hint of winter is just one element that The Batman Part 2 will seemingly take from The Long Halloween. Loeb and Sales' comic has been held in high regard since its release in 1996 and praised for its noir aesthetic and compelling mystery as Batman, Jim Gordon, and Harvey Dent ally to end the crime families of Gotham, particularly Carmine Falcone.
The Long Halloween spans a year, marked by a series of killings on holidays like Halloween, New Year's Eve, and Labor Day. While this covers all four seasons, a significant portion is set in snowy Gotham, and it appears The Batman 2 will follow suit, setting its story in a snow-capped city.
The Batman has already adapted several major elements of the infamous comic book story, including the takedown of Carmine Falcone and the reveal that Selina Kyle is Falcone's daughter. The Batman: Part 2 will no doubt draw on multiple Batman comic arcs for inspiration, but so far, several confirmed details align with the story told in The Long Halloween.
The Batman Part 2 Will Include These Elements From The Long Halloween
Harvey Dent
A key indicator of The Batman Part 2's story was the casting of MCU star Sebastian Stan, reportedly as Harvey Dent, Gotham's District Attorney. Scarlett Johansson is also rumored to be playing Dent's wife, Gilda.
The Dents play a significant role in The Long Halloween, which uncovers Harvey's origin story and tracks his downfall from respected DA to the scarred criminal Two-Face. After initially teaming up with Jim Gordon and Batman to put a stop to the crime in Gotham, Dent is dragged deeper down the rabbit hole, until his face is scarred by acid and he re-emerges as Two-Face.
Gilda also plays an important role in The Long Halloween, adopting the moniker of the Holiday killer, and including both Dents in the movie could hint that The Batman Part 2 draws on their story from the comic.
A New Villain
One of the biggest questions surrounding The Batman Part 2 is who the villain will be. The Batman featured multiple villains, including the Riddler, Carmine Falcone, and The Penguin, and it's expected that the sequel will do the same. However, Reeves has set expectations, saying the new film will include a villain that has "never really been done in a movie before."
This comment instantly rules out dozens of potential villains for The Batman Part 2, but one that it doesn't include is The Long Halloween's Holiday killer (who has only been adapted in animated form).
There are similarities between the Riddler from The Batman and the Holiday Killer, but the specific acts and identity of The Long Halloween's villain weren't adapted one-for-one in the 2022 film. With Harvey and Gilda Dent rumored to be included in the story, it certainly seems like The Batman 2 could involve The Long Halloween's secretive killer as a villain.
Bruce Wayne's Role
One of the few complaints fans had about The Batman was that there wasn't enough time spent on Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne. That will be altered in the sequel as Reeves promised in an interview with Josh Horowitz: "[in] Part 2, you start to see who Bruce really is."
The Long Halloween is primarily a Batman story, but it also involves Bruce Wayne in a key capacity. The story sees Bruce, serving on the board of the Gotham City Bank, trying to use his influence to sway the President into removing Falcone's money from the bank, crippling their operation. Bruce also becomes a target of the Falcones, who ask him to launder their money; he is even held hostage by Poison Ivy at one point on their orders, and is arrested due to suspicion that the Wayne family is in league with the crime family.
With The Batman: Part 2 promising more from the Bruce Wayne side, seeing the billionaire get involved in the cleanup in the aftermath of Falcone's downfall could be a logical path to follow. Bruce also has to grapple with the revelations about his parents he learned in the first film. Both of these public and personal problems somewhat mirror what Bruce goes through in The Long Halloween as well, suggesting this may be another aspect that The Batman Part 2 could draw upon.
