A handful of classic DC characters used in Christian Bale’s The Dark Knight will be revisited under new actors in Matt Reeves’ The Batman – Part 2. The Batman 2 is slowly inching closer to its production start date, and it will follow up on Reeves’ original Gotham-set movie five years later. While its cast is still slowly coming into focus, the movie will, unsurprisingly, draw on DC history to continue the story in this alternate-reality comic universe.
Five characters from 2027’s The Batman 2 were previously brought to life in 2008’s The Dark Knight. Still regarded as one of the greatest superhero movies ever made, the Christian Bale-starring The Dark Knight marked a new step in comic-book-movie storytelling in 2008, featuring some of the most highly regarded performances in history. Although the plots of this movie and the latest Batman film, which hits theaters on October 1, 2027, will be vastly different, they naturally share a few similarities in their rosters.
Every The Dark Knight Character in The Batman 2
Batman/Bruce Wayne
The Batman 2 will take the same route as The Dark Knight by centering on Bruce Wayne/Batman, with The Dark Knight featuring Christian Bale in the titular role. This film showed Bale’s Batman further into his run as a hero and a businessman, devoting his life to protecting Gotham while struggling to handle an insane villain who rose from the shadows at the end of 2005’s Batman Begins.
Meanwhile, Robert Pattinson takes on the Bat-mantle for The Batman 2, marking his second appearance as the Caped Crusader. While story details have not been revealed, Pattinson’s hero will deal with a flooded Gotham City while fighting a rising wave of new villains across the city.
Alfred
Every Batman has his Alfred, who was portrayed in Nolan’s The Dark Knight by British legend Michael Caine. Making his second appearance, Alfred continued to assist Batman in both his business and superhero lives, working hard to hide Bruce Wayne’s identity while offering support to those he cared deeply about, like Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Rachel Dawes.
Playing a younger version of Alfred in The Batman was industry legend Andy Serkis, who will return to the role in The Batman 2. After suffering major injuries in an explosion at Wayne Tower in the first movie, Serkis’ Alfred is expected to make a full recovery and return to assist Bruce Wayne in his superhero endeavors in the second movie (although Serkis has his own ideas for what he wants to happen).
The Joker
In 2008, the late Heath Ledger etched his name into comic book movie history with his portrayal of the Joker, which won him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The Dark Knight showed a wild and insane version of the Clown Prince of Crime, who did everything in his power to burn Gotham to the ground and send the city into chaos.
2022’s The Batman gave the Joker one quick moment to shine, portrayed by Eternals star Barry Keoghan in one of the movie’s last scenes. After showing up in the Arkham Asylum cell next to Paul Dano’s Riddler, the Joker is now set for The Batman 2, but the specifics for his story are still unknown.
Harvey Dent
One of the surprise villains in The Dark Knight was Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent, who later took a dark turn and became the villainous Two-Face. Originally a friend and ally of Christian Bale’s Batman and Jim Gordon, half of his face is burned off in an attack by the Joker, leading him to go on a rampage across Gotham.
MCU star Sebastian Stan was reported to be playing Harvey Dent for Matt Reeves, marking Dent’s first live-action appearance since The Dark Knight. Following at least 11 live-action performances as Bucky Barnes, this film will mark Stan’s DC debut, although it is unclear where he will go as Dent.
Commissioner Gordon
Gary Oldman took on his lone comic-book-movie role by playing Jim Gordon in 2008’s The Dark Knight. Eventually being promoted from Gotham PD Lieutenant to Commissioner, Gordon worked closely with Batman to take on the Joker, even faking his death to get to the bottom of the Joker’s crime spree.
Jeffrey Wright took over the role of Lieutenant Gordon in The Batman, operating as the only GCPD officer to work closely with Pattinson’s Batman. This movie gave the two their closest working relationship yet, as they united on multiple occasions to investigate the Riddler and Penguin’s activities throughout Gotham.
