In another life we would all talk about Batman Part II This weekend. The successor to Matt Reeves’ 2022 -hit was first calculated at October 3, 2025, only to be repeatedly postponed by the Hollywood strikes and other evils. It comes now on October 1, 2027, and whether it lands this release date or not, fans are waiting with BATED Breath to learn something they can about the movie. Will it introduce Robin? Is the Court of Owls the villain, or is it Mr. Freeze? Will the forces that make Robert Pattinson Batman for the newly launched DC universe?
The demand for answers escalated to the point DC chief James Gunn has played defense of Reeves a handful of times, at some point and tell people to leave the man alone when working on the manuscript.
Rampant speculation and expectation have always been part of fandoms, especially for superheroes. But it is safe to say that it has grown to a larger beast over the years thanks to leaks and rumors of scoopers who suggest or directly indicating what they have learned on social media, rarely with someone who is pushing back on what goes out and is shared by those who are eager to hear everything and all that is related to their favorite things.
Some discoveries end up being true, others wildly wrong. Either way, they do their jobs to keep something in the conversation when the official channels do not do what some would consider their due diligence and give a frequent stream of updates. Any silence lasting longer than a few days is a sign that the upcoming project is washing and its creators have lost their spark or that it has been canceled.
There is no meaning in pretending Batman Part II or insomniac’s Wolverine The game – which similarly went without years with any news before they were officially revealed at the end of September after the study was hacked in 2024 – would have quiet ends. WB and Sony are tall companies and if any of that stature had been deleted, we would have known it now.
But fear that they are going away exists thanks to both companies (and lots more) kills projects like Batgirl, Naughty Dogs Multiplayer-focused Last of us Spinoff and too many more to count. Depending on who you ask is fear of not knowing that something is coming is worse than knowing that it never comes as made it clear from Hollow Knight: Silksong To become a meme thanks to its dubious existence from 2018 until the last August.
After years of what fans would consider a party of great IP works – and the occasional Nibble on decent enough – this series of cancellations in recent years have left a feeling of anger and betrayal in their wake. It’s one thing to see Leslie Grace in Batgirls Burnside costume and hear that movies were basically done before its early ending. It is another to get vague ideas about what a game’s developer intends or see minutes of shooting in a larger showcase that we saw with Monolith’s Wonder Woman And the initiative Perfectly dark.
Between canceled movies and games, news of the latter Stings so much more thanks to the layoffs that follow in the immediate backlog and news of charges that revealed the development was rough In some form or form, or the developer’s parent company was unwilling to see the project through until the end. All fan love in the world can perform wonders, but it can’t do anything against “market conditions”, crunch or corporate growing interest in AI.
In the late 2010s, IO9 wrote about how fandomas were gradually intertwined with the companies that own the IP they love. Five years into the 20s, and fandomas now see the setback of this synthesis by being cursed with knowledge. Many fans have undertaken to know everything about a game, movie, show or artist and end up with spiral whose news does not come up or arrive with potentially worrying consequences. They need to know who is involved in the project from top to bottom and how it progresses so that they know what creative to gather support or disdain for, or if they need it, these creators shake back to life if their heart rate starts to fade.
The fixing of the upcoming things that Batman Part II and Wolverinewill not end. We are already seeing this with a Tiktokskaber’s alleged trip to Scotland to demand Rockstar North give more info, put on a new trailer and say something Around May 2026’s Grand Theft Auto 6: Being a fan of something is constantly having something, so look forward to the next big thing on the horizon.
In that regard, Reeves and Company should take as much time as they need Batman II—Unless something disastrous happens, it’s not like this epic crime saga is at risk of really losing its momentum or location in the super hero landscape.
Want more io9 news? Check when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars and Star Trek to release what’s next for the DC universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.