Scarlett Johansson is right on the verge of making the ever-tricky “comic book-based movie universes jump,” THR reports, with news that the former Avenger is in “final negotiations” to sign on for Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II. There’s no word yet on which part Johansson might play in the film—which isn’t going to stop us from speculating baselessly about it, mind you—but talks are apparently on the verge of completion. The news comes after a few months that have seen Johansson push herself creatively (directing her debut feature, the June Squibb-starring Eleanor The Great), and add another IP to her extremely stacked trophy case of big brands, in the form of lining up a new Exorcist movie. (This, just a few months after starring in a new Jurassic Park film. Woman has a lot of franchises under her belt.)
Admittedly, Reeves’ Batman movies exist out of continuity with either the new or the old DC film universes—even with all that apparently inevitable multiverse hopping James Gunn was recently indulging himself with in Peacemaker. But it’s still interesting to see such a prominent member of the former Marvel main squad contemplating a job with the ol’ Distinguished Competition. (Johansson had a rougher exit than most of the original Avengers crew after the Endgame dismount, notably getting into some extremely bitter back-and-forths with Disney over compensation for her 2021 solo outing Black Widow. Everybody eventually decided to make nice again, but only after some pretty nasty accusations of rampant greed on both sides.)
As for speculating about who Johansson would play in Batman Part II—which Reeves has been working on for years at this point, finally finishing his script earlier this year ahead of an expected shooting date in 2026—we find ourselves penned weirdly in by both the majority-male nature of Bruce Wayne’s rogues gallery, and the grounded nature of Reeves’ movies. (Hard to imagine almost any version of Poison Ivy, for instance, functioning in those realistically grimy streets, despite the appearance of some plant-based super drugs in spin-off series The Penguin.) We’ll go out on a limb here and suggest that some character from Wayne’s past—possibly a riff on Andrea Beaumont from well-loved animated film Mask Of The Phantasm if we want to get really speculative—might give Johansson a big enough part to play while also dialing into Reeves’ themes. But secrecy on this project has been kept ridiculously tight, so your guess is literally as good as yours. We’ll presumably know more once Johansson formally signs on—and then even more once the film moves closer to its expected shooting date some time next year.
