‘The Batman Part II’, Glen Powell’s J.J. Abrams Movie Get New Release Dates

The Batman Part II has finally begun filming… but it’s going to take a little while longer to arrive on our screens. On Wednesday, Warner Bros. Pictures announced a number of new release date changes for their upcoming slate. The Great Beyond, the first film directed by J.J. Abrams since 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, has been moved from November 13, 2026 to October 1, 2027. As a result, The Batman Part II has moved from that previous October date to February 18th, 2028.

Additionally, the studio has swapped the release dates for Revenge of La Llorona and Sam Esmail’s Panic Carefully. The latest La Llorona sequel will now open on February 26, 2027, with Panic Carefully opening on April 9, 2027 with IMAX screens.

Reeves announced the release date change for The Batman Part II via a video posted on social media, which also served as a first look at the film’s star, Robert Pattison, in the updated version of his costume. Reeves shared a similar costume test video when The Batman began filming in 2020 — and this time around, we can see some tweaks to the Batman cowl, including a new chin strap and bigger ears.

Plot details are currently unknown about The Batman Part II, although that certainly hasn’t stopped the Internet from speculating in the meantime. In addition to Pattinson, the film will see the return of Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon, Andy Serkis as Commissioner Gordon, Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb / The Penguin, Jayme Lawson as Bella Real, Gil Perez-Abraham as Officer Martinez, and Barry Keoghan as The Joker. New cast members will reportedly include Sebastian Stan as Harvey Dent / Two-Face, with Scarlett Johansson rumored to play Harvey’s wife, Gilda Dent, and Charles Dance rumored to be cast , Sebastian Koch, and Brian Tyree Henry cast in currently-unknown roles.

What Is The Great Beyond About?

This isn’t the first time that The Batman Part II has had its release date delayed, after the 2023 Hollywood strikes and various other personal factors pushed the film from its initial October 3, 2025 release date. But this time around, the change is reportedly to allow both Part II and The Great Beyond to have extra time in the post-production stage. (Ironically enough, Reeves and Abrams are childhood friends, having previously co-created the TV show Felicity together.)

According to Deadline, a test screening for The Great Beyond was held recently in Irvine, California, which led to the studio now deciding that they want the film available in 70MM IMAX. While plot details are currently under wraps, the film is reportedly described as a “four-quadrant, all audience movie” with an original science fiction story written and directed by Abrams. Footage from the film was screened at CinemaCon this past April, teasing inspiration from H.G. Wells and characters traveling to some sort of alternate universe. The cast of The Great Beyond will include Glen Powell, Jenna Ortega, Emma Mackey, Samuel L. Jackson, Sophie Okonedo, and Merritt Wever.

“I’ve been very lucky to get to work on franchises and movies that are bigger than all of us, and that was great. But at a certain point, I really felt like I needed to get back to telling original stories, which is where I started. It’s the thing that I am most passionate about,” Abrams explained to the audience at CinemaCon. “The seed of this idea came to me years ago, and it took a long time to write it, partly because of extensive world building. I didn’t want it to just be one thing, not just a thriller or a mystery or a love story or sci-fi. I wanted it to be a bit of all of those things, and I wanted it to be big and something that generations of different people can all go to the theater to see.”

(featured image: Warner Bros. Pictures / DC Studios)

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