The Golden Globe and Emmy nominee starred in Matt Reeves’ standalone reboot of the DC hero as Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne’s butler and surrogate father who assists him in his second year of crime fighting, particularly his search for the serial killer, The Riddler. Serkis is one of multiple stars set to return for The Batman 2‘s cast, including Robert Pattinson as the titular hero, Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon and Colin Farrell as the Penguin, while Barry Keoghan is expected, but not yet confirmed, to reprise his role of The Joker.
Now, in an interview with ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley for his fourth directorial effort, Animal Farm, Serkis has offered a little tease of what’s to come from The Batman: Part II. When asked about Pattinson’s recent comments indicating filming is set to begin in May, the star acknowledged that “I’m a little bit busy” at the moment on his next directorial project, the Lord of the Rings installment The Hunt for Gollum, and therefore “won’t be joining them immediately.” However, he did affirm “by the end of the year, I will be” filming the DC sequel.
In turning to Alfred and Bruce’s dynamic, and how the next film will carry it on, Serkis was careful to say that “I can’t give anything” specific about how The Batman: Part II will pick up their story. The star did, though, tease that “it’ll be a very emotional film,” praising the script penned by Reeves and Mattson Tomlin:
Andy Serkis: I obviously can’t say too much about the film other than that I am really excited about going back into the world and working with Matt Reeves again, who I’ve now worked with a number of times, and he’s a dear friend, and Rob. And the script and the story and the new story really does speak to Matt as a human being and what he feels about life. Rob and he got on brilliantly. And I can’t say any more than that, but yeah, the relationship continues to be one of a very close, slightly at odds, but beautiful relationship.
Serkis not immediately being available for The Batman: Part II‘s filming may lead some to speculate his coming in later in production means a smaller role in the sequel. However, the first film memorably took 14 months to shoot, due in large part to the COVID-19 shutdowns and safety measures slowing things down.
If the new film does indeed begin shooting in May, and proves to be as big as its predecessor, it could still feasibly take at least six or seven months to shoot. This would not only give Serkis plenty of time to wrap production on The Hunt for Gollum, which is set for a December 2027 release, but also leave plenty of room for him to come in and have a wealth of material to work off of as Alfred.
Beyond the filming timeline, it is interesting to note Serkis teases The Batman: Part II as being an “emotional” film. The first film had plenty of emotional beats, from Bruce having to confront with nearly losing the only person he cares about, to Zoë Kravitz’s Selina Kyle coming face-to-face with the man who murdered her mother and her best friend.
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Not much has been known about the sequel’s story thus far, with Reeves having previously teased that it will further see Bruce learning more about Gotham’s deeper corruption after exposing some of it in the first film. Given there were teases that Thomas and Martha Wayne had their own hand in the city’s dark past, The Batman: Part II could become emotional for Alfred and Bruce should they uncover more unsavory information that the former wasn’t even aware of.
Regardless of what’s to come from the story, Serkis’ comments should at least give fans of the first film comfort that The Batman: Part II is staying well on course to meet its October 2027 release date. Reeves and co. getting production started without him will allow them time to focus on the big setpieces expected from a DC film in the early stages of filming, before honing in on the more human moments in the latter half with Alfred and everyone else in the cast.