Following the Riddler’s floods in the previous film, the fan art for Batman 2 depicts a hard winter in Gotham City. Critics and audiences alike praised Matt Reeves’ The Batman upon the film’s premiere earlier this year. Robert Pattinson portrayed Batman in the movie, and Paul Dano played the Riddler. Reeves’ portrayal of a grimy, noir-inspired Gotham City and Pattison’s commanding performance as Batman earned high marks from critics. No official release date has been announced for Batman 2, but Reeves and Pattinson will return as Batman and Robin.
Jaxson Derr (@jaxsonderr) of Instagram released a new piece of fan art for The Batman 2 in which Gotham City is having a particularly harsh winter, even if details on the sequel are few. Fan art for The Batman 2 features Robert Pattinson’s Batman and depicts a snowy, icy Gotham City due to the Riddler bombing of the seawall. Derr reveals his thoughts on the sequel in the caption, speculating that the National Guard has abandoned Gotham, causing the city to descend into anarchy.
Although the Riddler is captured by the end of The Batman, the film nevertheless sets up obstacles for the Caped Crusader in the future. Although the movie ended with Batman accepting his duty as a protector of Gotham City rather than a source of fear, the Riddler was only partially foiled in his scheme. The Batman ends with Gotham City still flooded and Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne promising to help with the cleanup, but as Derr’s fan art points out, this natural disaster sets the stage for the emergence of new enemies.
The villain in The Batman 2 has not been revealed, but given Barry Keoghan’s cameo as the Joker in the first film, the Clown Prince of Crime seems like a strong possibility. Based on the trailers and a later revealed deleted scene, it appears that Keoghan’s interpretation of the character is vastly different from previous screen portrayals. If the deleted scene is any indication, the chemistry between Joker and Batman in the sequel may be rather intriguing. Mr. Freeze, among others, might emerge as a new villain in the wake of the havoc caused by the Riddler’s plan.
There are still many unanswered mysteries about what will happen in The Batman 2, but placing the film in the winter shortly after the first movie’s events would be a great way to examine the fallout from the Riddler’s activities and put Batman to the test in new ways. The cold river bordering Gotham City was used to chilling effect in the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises, the only Batman film to have a winter location. Despite the obvious differences between Reeves’ and Christopher Nolan’s takes on the Batman universe, investigating the effects of winter on a flooded version of Gotham City might take what Nolan did and offer fans a new side of the setting and character.
