News What to Watch What to Watch and Read This Weekend: The Bogs are Trending and the Trees are Calling Plus: Some good news about how your favorite art is keeping you alive By Molly Templeton | Published on May 15, 2026 Image: Pandora Film Comment 0 Share New Share Image: Pandora Film There’s a fork in the path ahead of you, and it goes two ways. No, three: Will you visit the realm of Dungeon Crawler Carl? Going to hang out with a tree? Or stop by a nice bog? Somehow, this week’s recommendations feel a little more choose-your-own-adventure than most. Perhaps it’s just the really specific locales: woods, bogs, dungeons. Personally, I lean woods (yes, I am giddily excited about Wildwood), but I do like a nice bog, provided I don’t have to step in it. Keep your toes dry this weekend, hug your friends, call your reps, and maybe talk to a tree? Or a friendly shrub? Your local foliage may vary. Books Are Big, Movies Are Weird, Everything is Scattered It’s May, and it feels like the movies should be bigger. Yeah, there’s a Star War next week, but … it kind of just feels like a long episode of television? I would love to feel differently! I would! And yet! On the other hand, the books are big. This week brought a new Ann Leckie novel set in the world of the Imperial Radch, and a new Dungeon Crawler Carl book, and a new series-starter from Veronica Roth, and a bunch of new literary books by kinda big names. Does everyone else’s attention span feel scattered, or is this just a me problem? (Or, you know, a the-state-of-the-world problem?) At any rate, I was looking through this week’s new releases for inspiration and stumbled on a book I knew nothing about but wanted to read immediately: Elaine Kraf’s posthumously published Memory House, in which an author fakes her own death and then gets mysteriously taken to a strange house full of other not-dead artists who “have all decided that fame in death is preferable to decline in real life.” This is a strange, tantalizing way of having it both ways, and I would like to know more.  Bog Life According to The New York Times, everyone is presently obsessed with bogs. Are you obsessed with bogs? Do you know anyone obsessed with bogs? Have I just been reading so much that I’ve missed the bog train? Well, not entirely missed it: Last year I read and can heartily recommend Kay Chronister’s The Bog Wife, an eerie novel about a woman coming home to the house and land where she grew up, and where most of her family still lives. Long-standing tradition says that when a father dies, they bury him in the bog, which will then provide a bog wife for the eldest son. This is not quite what happens. Chronister’s novel is compelling, slow-moving, and unnerving, and has an ending that seems to divide readers. I loved it. The weirder, the better. Your mileage, of course, may vary, but if you would like to catch up with the current bog season, well: here you go. How to Feel Good About Your Reading and Watching Habits According to CNN, all that reading and watching will help keep you young. Which is to say: there’s a new study out that “found that both the frequency with which people engage with the arts, as well as the number of different ways in which they do so, can slow the aging process.” I am old enough to be lightly skeptical here; I remember when wine was good for you, and then coffee was good for you, but then drinking was all bad for you no matter what you drink or how often, but then coffee… I kind of lost track of where coffee is on the good/bad for you scale. A scientist who was not involved with the aforementioned study also made a good point: “This is a single snapshot in time, so we can’t yet say that visiting a museum causes you to age more slowly. It’s possible that people who are biologically younger for their chronological age are simply more likely to get out and do things.” Read books! Go to museums! Watch movies! Feel good about all of it! Tony Leung + A Nice Tree = Cinematic Promise It’s a minor travesty that we live in a world where, in order to get eyes on an interview with the astonishing actor Tony Leung, one has to throw a mention of his Marvel movie appearance into the headline. I get it! But I also think that we should all be watching all of Tony Leung’s movies. But also, yes, he was in Shang-Chi, and he was one of the best things about it. Because Tony Leung is one of the best things about any movie he’s in. He is also amazing in Wong Kar-wei movies and John Woo movies; these movies live in really different places on the movie-type spectrum. And now he’s in a movie where he acts with a tree. The first interview question is “So what was it like acting with a tree?” and Leung says, immediately, “It felt amazing.” This makes me a) want to watch Silent Friend; b) continue my tradition of always reading Leung interviews; and c) want to go hang out in the woods with the trees. But to the point, this interview is long and career-encompassing, and if you have ever found yourself mesmerized by Tony Leung’s face on screen, you ought to read it. If you have not found yourself in said situation, you ought to watch one of his films. There are so many to choose from.[end-mark] The post What to Watch and Read This Weekend: The Bogs are Trending and the Trees are Calling appeared first on Reactor.

Movies & TV Obsession Obsession Makes an Old Story New Again With Astonishing Acting This new take on a “be careful what you wish for” premise is dark as it gets. By Reuben Baron | Published on May 15, 2026 Image: Focus Features Comment 0 Share New Share Image: Focus Features Can a story idea be so obvious that it loops back around to being original? The new horror movie Obsession is, in essence, a “be careful what you wish for” story in the vein of W.W. Jacobs’ 1902 short story The Monkey’s Paw—a formula that became such a cliché that today it’s usually played for laughs. Curry Barker got the inspiration for Obsession by watching one of those Monkey’s Paw parodies, the first segment of The Simpsons episode “Treehouse of Horror II,” and realizing he could make this old archetype feel fresh again by taking it seriously for maximum horror. Which isn’t to say that Obsession lacks a sense of humor. Like Jordan Peele and Zack Cregger before him, Barker started off as a comedian before becoming a horror auteur. As half of the YouTube channel “that’s a bad idea,” he’s made numerous silly sketches, many parodying the horror genre, alongside award-winning spooky short films and the hour-long found footage feature Milk and Serial. If I had to guess why going from comedy to horror has become such a common and successful career path, it’s because the skill sets for those two genres are more similar than you might think. Both operate on the build up and release of tension, seeking to get loud reactions from the audience, and minor adjustments in framing or mindset can be all it takes to shift a strange or uncomfortable situation from hilarious to horrifying or vice versa. Obsession, Barker’s first movie with a budget and a theatrical release, sets itself up akin to a rom-com, though the dark and shadowy cinematography prepares you for the movie it’s going to become. Protagonist Baron “Bear” Bailey (Michael Johnston) has a desperate crush on his music store co-worker and trivia teammate Nikki (Inde Navarette) but can’t bring himself to tell her that he likes her that way. In the opening scene, he rehearses asking her out in front of mutual Ian (Cooper Tomlinson, the other half of “that’s a bad idea”). Bear’s bad at it, and Ian’s advice to neg her with her childhood nickname “Freaky Nikki” is sure to make it even worse. It’s hard for Bear to find time alone with Nikki away from Ian and Sarah (Megan Lawless), but even when they are alone and Nikki asks him directly if he likes her, he can’t bring himself to answer honestly. While trying to find Nikki a necklace at a new age shop, Bear comes across a bunch of “One Wish Willows” on sale. The internet can’t agree on whether these are kitschy collectors items or actual magic capable of making any single wish come true (side note: the filmmakers must have had a lot of fun designing its various fake websites). Bear finds out for himself, using a One Wish Willow to wish for Nikki to love him more than anyone else in the world. It works all too well—depending on how you define “Nikki” and how you define “love.” Image: Focus Features After making this wish, Nikki is not the same person she once was—or rather, the real Nikki is still present in her body but being controlled 99% of the time by another entity. This entity is manipulative, codependent, and terrifyingly obsessed with Bear. She lies about her dad dying to convince Bear to sleep with her, watches him sleep from the corner of the room, makes a shrine out of his recently deceased cat, and that’s just the start of it! When the real Nikki does arrest control of her body for brief moments, she makes it obvious that this is hell for her. Even if you didn’t buy the supernatural explanation for Nikki’s sudden change, she would at best come off as deeply traumatized and not in a good place for a relationship—but Bear chooses to take advantage of her in this state, and he’s going to pay the consequences for it. Obsession is a terrifying movie from any angle, though I can already sense there are going to be arguments based on which angles different audience members respond to. Since Bear is the viewpoint character and the suffering he goes through gets so perverse and cruel, many viewers will have at least some sympathy for him, but some will have a bit too much. The guy sitting next to me at the preview screening kept shouting “Crazy bitch” whenever things escalated with Nikki, and with the state of media literacy these days especially surrounding any story with a villain protagonist, I worry that too many viewers will reduce Obsession to a misogynist “crazy bitch tortures Nice Guy” read. But it’s unfair to hold the shallowest possible reading of a movie against it when said movie makes it emphatically clear that not only is Bear the architect of his own misery, but that Nikki’s misery at his hands is even worse. It’s not entirely clear when or how she’s able to break through from the entity possessing her—for all it matters, the trigger is “whatever time would be scariest or most dramatic”—but those bursts of sudden consciousness crystalize the horror of her violation. At one point, she pleads for Bear to put her out of her misery before the entity reawakens. Bear’s selfish incel-like response—something along the lines of “What’s so horrible about being with me?”—should kill any further temptation to make excuses for his bad decisions. Image: Focus Features All the leads in Obsession are good, but Inde Navarette’s performance is unbelievably great. She completely sells Nikki’s sudden supernatural change; her facial expressions reach extremes that feel almost impossible. There’s a moment of her saying the word “no” a bunch of times in a row with different intonations that’s as chilling as when Betty Gabriel did the same in Get Out. Amazingly, Navarette has said that she doesn’t really watch horror movies, so it’s as if she’s gone all in giving the performance she’d be too scared to watch herself in other circumstances. For all geeks tend to talk about wanting the people who make our favorite movies to be fans like us, there’s something to be said for the gifts someone outside our genre world can bring to it. In one conversation before her possession, Nikki clarifies that the book she’s writing is a “love story” but not a “romance.” The distinction between the terms, left unstated, is that “romance” implies a happy ending where “love story” does not. Obsession is, in a twisted way, a “love story.” It is not a “romance.” Forget about couples ending up together—here, it’s a wonder if any character makes it out of this mess alive, and if they do, they’re facing a fate worse than death. While the horror is primarily psychological for most of the build-up, the final act gets extremely violent; it’s a mercy that the area the film’s low budget shows the most is that the corpses are so visibly props. Curry Barker already has another original horror project, Anything But Ghosts, lined up with Focus Features and Blumhouse, but the big headline leading up to Obsession’s release is that he’s attached to direct yet another reboot of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre for A24. Given how the last few Texas Chain Saw reboots have gone, I’d normally consider this a waste of time, but after watching Obsession, I think I see the vision there. Tobe Hooper’s 1974 slasher remains legendary over half a century later because of just how unrelentingly nasty it all feels, and while Obsession has enough dark comedy to it to entertain, it’s a similar nastiness that leaves you haunted as the credits roll.[end-mark] The post <i>Obsession</i> Makes an Old Story New Again With Astonishing Acting appeared first on Reactor.

News The Midnight Library Florence Pugh is Set to Visit Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library You can check out the books, but you can never leave? I think you can leave, actually By Molly Templeton | Published on May 15, 2026 Screenshot: Marvel Studios Comment 0 Share New Share Screenshot: Marvel Studios The very busy Florence Pugh has quite a lineup of adaptations in her near future. When she’s not starring in Marvel movies (such as Thunderbolts, pictured above), she’ll appear in the TV adaptation of East of Eden; the third Dune film; and now The Midnight Library, which is based on the novel by Matt Haig. The Midnight Library was optioned in 2020, according to Variety, so this news is a big leap forward for the project, which also now has a director: Garth Davis, who is also the director of the aforementioned East of Eden. His resume also includes the resolutely panned but intriguingly cast Foe; Mary Magdalene; and Lion. The Midnight Library screenplay is by Laura Wade (Rivals) and Nick Payne (We Live in Time). The novel was published in 2020 by Viking; the publisher’s synopsis goes like this: Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place. If the name “Nora Seed” feels off to you, as it does to me, well. A colleague pointed out that it’s an anagram of REASONED. This makes me want to heave dramatic sighs, but I’m apparently alone in this feeling, as everyone loves this novel. It was a New York Times bestseller; a Good Morning America book club pick; and is beloved by actresses including Millie Bobby Brown (“This book really makes you think all about our choices in life”) and Jameela Jamil (“I can’t describe how much his work means to me. So necessary”). According to The Independent, “Haig is one of the most inspirational popular writers on mental health of our age and, in his latest novel, he has taken a clever, engaging concept and created a heart-warming story that offers wisdom in the same deceptively simple way as Mitch Albom’s best tales.” Haig himself said in a statement, “I am so happy that Nora’s story is in such great hands, and that her myriad possibilities will be vividly reawakened by the absolute perfect team. And I can’t wait for people to see my book reimagined for the big screen.” Variety notes that the film is expected to begin filming next year, so it’ll be a minute before you too can visit the Library.[end-mark] The post Florence Pugh is Set to Visit Matt Haig’s <i>The Midnight Library</i> appeared first on Reactor.

Featured Essays Murderbot Martha Wells on Platform Decay, Found Families, and What’s Next for Murderbot “I kind of feel like I’ve taken it to a place where Murderbot is in a really good place right now.” By Matthew Byrd | Published on May 15, 2026 Photo Credit: Lisa Blaschke Comment 0 Share New Share Photo Credit: Lisa Blaschke In Platform Decay, the eighth and latest entry in author Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries series, our favorite SecUnit embarks upon a rescue mission, navigates interactions with strangers, and wrestles with the implementation of a mental health module that forces it to occasionally run a kind of emotional self-diagnostic check. It is, in some ways, just another day on the job for the cyborg that won our hearts nearly nine years ago when we learned it had hacked its governing software largely so it could watch its favorite programs in peace. Except there really is no such thing as just “another day on the job” for Murderbot, just as there’s really no such thing as just another Murderbot story for the character’s millions of fans. Since the release of All Systems Red in 2017, Murderbot has become a full-blown cultural phenomenon. Though it’s easy to measure its success in sales or even the quality of its Apple TV series (one of the best sci-fi adaptations in recent memory), the truest testament to the series’ impact is found in the hearts of its fans. Murderbot has become an unlikely beacon of hope in troubling times, just as the Murderbot Diaries have become some of the most anticipated new SFF releases in any given year. Nobody, including Wells herself, could have predicted that the story of an emotionally confused cyborg in a world run by ruthless corporations would have become a comfort to those navigating often unprecedented times. But as this series grows, so does its legion of fans who look at Murderbot’s adventures and say “Same, Murderbot, same.” I recently got the chance to speak with Martha Wells about the latest Murderbot book, why these stories mean so much to so many, and, ultimately, what is next for the character as Wells begins to consider writing the final chapters of the Murderbot Diaries. Matthew Byrd: To jump right into it, I want to ask you about how Platform Decay also just jumps right into it. I was talking to a few readers about how the opening caught them off guard by throwing us into the middle of the mission, and how the whole story has this incredibly fast pacing. Was that meant to capture the exhaustion of it all, or was that just how the story took shape as you worked on it? Martha Wells: That was basically how it took shape as I worked on it. I was having a little trouble getting it started, as I do pretty much all the Murderbot books, and was looking for a place to really start the story. I tried a couple of other openings that started further back and offered more explanation, but this one just really felt right. I wanted to focus on the Torus setting. So starting right as they got into it just felt like the right way to go. Matthew: It’s interesting because the pacing contrasts a bit with Murderbot being in a healthier place mentally throughout the book, or at least making progress emotionally. To what extent do you track the progress of the series at this point by Murderbot’s emotional growth versus big story revelations?  Martha: It didn’t start out that way, but now it is very closely tracked by Murderbot’s mental health progress. I think Network Effect was really the only one that had that kind of epic, big story. The series, to me, has always felt really personal. Personal to Murderbot and personal to the reader. I’ve kind of been tending in that direction for a while.  Matthew: How do you approach balancing what this character means to you personally with what it’s come to represent to so many people, and how they’ve read the character in their own ways? Martha: I just try to stay true to what I feel the character is, because I think that’s what people are responding to. Matthew: Did you ever expect these stories to become almost a comfort to those who look forward to just being able to exist in this world, as awful as it can be at times? Martha: I didn’t anticipate that, but I didn’t anticipate anything about how popular the series would be. It’s really nice to hear that it has, because… for me, a lot of books were like that. Basically, my whole life… I started to say when I was growing up, but it’s pretty much the same case now, where a new book comes along from a favorite author, and it’s just such a relief to step out of the world for a while with that author you trust. I’m just really glad it’s become that way for some people. Matthew: I’m sure inquiring minds want to know your secret to writing a character that improves their emotional state despite living in a corporate hellscape. It hasn’t become a less relevant topic as the series goes on.  Martha: [laughs] I wish I really knew! Basically, my coping mechanism is the same one I gave Murderbot, which is basically TV, movies, stories, books… anything that just kind of takes you away from reality for a while. Matthew: Speaking of which, since the Apple TV adaptation came out, I’ve been fascinated by how much people have latched on to The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, and how it’s developing its own fandom. Has that reaction changed the way you’ve engaged with that series? Martha: Not really. It’s pretty much the same for me. I just think the way they did [Sanctuary Moon] in the TV series was so much fun. Just having so many surprise actors, and just the whole… taking the soap opera, telenovela concept and really pushing it as far as it could go into the outrageous. The costumes, the great music, and the situations. I just think that’s what people are responding to. It’s so silly, and it’s so fun, yet it’s kind of serious stuff. It was just incredibly likable. Matthew: People have tried to nail down what Sanctuary Moon is in the Murderbot universe vs. ours. Some say it’s their Doctor Who, others say Star Trek, and some compare it to Days of Our Lives. What do you think is the best comparison? Martha: Probably more like Days of Our Lives. I think that also becomes more obvious in the second season, when they’re going to show more of Sanctuary Moon and some other shows. It really shows how there’s a much broader story out there. I think that makes it clearer that it tends more towards a soap opera or a sort of daytime or nighttime drama. Matthew: Getting back to Platform Decay, I found it interesting that Murderbot has always had these themes of independence, ownership, and even slavery. But throughout the series, and in this book in particular, there is greater emphasis on community and interpersonal relationships. How do you balance that dynamic, and why is it so important to you to evolve that idea as the series continues? Martha: Well… this can sound complicated, but it’s kind of about the ways the nuclear family has kind of been a little imposed on our society. You read about historical communities and how it’s more helpful for people to be in larger groups, found families, and extended families, just forming little, small communities that help people take care of each other. So I just like to write about that too. I like to show that in the Murderbot Diaries. I think when they’re traveling on the Torus and going through the different segments that have very different… not just styles of government, but different cultures. It was really a good spot to show the variety in how people were living. The worse a place felt, the more signs of community there were.  Matthew: Is it that natural urge for families and communities versus the ways those ideas can be exploited and warped? Martha: Yeah, I think so. I think humans always want to live in groups, and this whole idea of these very small families being isolated is… It just doesn’t work for many people these days. Especially people who don’t want to get married or don’t want to have a significant other, but who do want to have friends. Or they want a relationship, but they don’t want to have kids, and they don’t mind helping other people with their kids. That kind of thing. It’s just that there are too many variations, and I think people are kind of tired of being put into little boxes as to what their relationship should be. Matthew: You’ve mentioned that you don’t necessarily think far ahead for the series before you start writing new books. Was there anything that surprised you when writing Platform Decay? Martha: I don’t think until I really got into it, and they started their escape with Farai, Sofi, and Naja… I didn’t really think of the whole family road trip thing until then. That’s when it really started to come together. So I was kind of surprised by that, but I also really enjoyed how it was trending in that direction.  Matthew: That’s fascinating, because it’s such a big part of the story.  Martha: I mean, sometimes I don’t really know what the story is going to be about until I get into it. It’s really hard for me to figure out whether ideas, plot elements, or even action scenes will work until I start writing them. I kind of write my way into all of it. Matthew: On that note, I know a lot of people are really falling in love with Three as a character and their relationship with everyone. Were there any relationships in the series that have evolved differently from your initial expectations for them?  Martha: I think Three has evolved differently because, at first, I kind of imagined it almost as a friend or sidekick to Murderbot. Basically, I kept thinking about how that feels similar to some of the things I’ve done before. So I’ve kind of been taking it in a bit of a different direction. Murderbot doesn’t have a lot of interest in fixing big problems or activism. It mostly focuses on keeping the people it cares about safe. The fact that Three might be different, and might be exploring that when it goes off on its own on the Torus is kind of playing with that direction a bit. Matthew: I saw an interview recently where you mentioned the possibility that the next Murderbot story could be the last one you write. Do you have any updates on where you’re at with that? Martha: Yeah, I mean, it will certainly be the last one for a while. I do want to take a break from it and maybe try something else. But I won’t really have time to think about that much. I’m still in the middle of writing Hierarch, the next book in the Rising World series. So yeah, right now that’s the only thing I have. I have one other [book] planned to fulfill the contract. I kind of feel like I’ve taken it to a place where Murderbot is in a really good place right now. Not perfect, but much better than it has been before. So that might be a good place to put a cap on the story, if that’s how it turns out.  Matthew: How will you know when it’s time to end the series? Is there anything in particular you’re looking to accomplish narratively, or is it more about when you feel it’s time?  Martha: Well, I had an idea for a long time of wanting to do a big story centered around Preservation, the planet, or in the Preservation system, with something happening there. I would like to be able to do that. Usually, I come up with ideas and think, ‘Oh, I’ll do this book,’ and then it barely touches on that or there’s just not enough room in the book to get everything done. But that’s really something I’m hoping to do in the next book, if I can come up with a good idea. Matthew: I’ve heard you speak about how this series started as a standalone story and evolved along the way, as you decided to spare the [Murderbot] character and continue their adventures. Did you ever consider any other endings for the series and for the character? Martha: Not really! In All Systems Red, once I decided, ‘Yeah, Murderbot was going to leave’ and then I had the idea that it would be great to do a story arc getting back to meet up with Dr. Mensa and the others again. That was kind of up to Exit Strategy. Then Network Effect was just me wanting to get ART and Murderbot back together. So it’s always kind of been about more the story I wanted to tell next, and I never really thought of, you know, doing something graphic to the character at the end or anything like that. [laughs]  Matthew: Has this series becoming such a surprise hit changed the way you think about and approach long-term storytelling as you look towards future projects? Martha: I don’t think it’s changed my approach. I think it’s given me the ability to do things that are more out of the box and risky, like Witch King. I don’t think that’s a book I could have sold earlier, and I don’t think it’s a book I could have written any time earlier, because I just wouldn’t have had the experience to do it. So it kind of lets me be more open to doing different things and push outside of my comfort zone a bit.  Matthew: Is there anything you feel pulled towards creatively that readers who are maybe only familiar with Murderbot may be surprised to learn you’re interested in pursuing?  Martha: Well, a lot of them were just surprised in general and didn’t realize I’d written fantasy before. A lot of them didn’t realize I’d written novels before. When I was getting ready to do Network Effect, people were like, ‘Well, can she write a novel?’ And it’s like, ‘Well… I’ve written all these others.’ [laughs] [end-mark] Buy the Book Platform Decay Martha Wells Buy Book Platform Decay Martha Wells Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget The post Martha Wells on <i>Platform Decay</i>, Found Families, and What’s Next for Murderbot appeared first on Reactor.

News The Batman: Part II Matt Reeves Confirms Two Marvel Stars Will Be in The Batman: Part II‘s Cast He also confirms that things are dark — literally! — in Gotham By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on May 14, 2026 Credit: Warner Bros. Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Warner Bros. Production on The Batman: Part II is underway, and writer-director Matt Reeves has headed to social media to tease who we’ll be seeing on screen. Today, he released a GIF showing the reflection of an enigmatic Scarlett Johansson in a driving car’s rearview mirror. Reeves didn’t add much to the image except to say: “Next exit, Gotham… Welcome,” followed by two bat emojis. Check it out for yourself: Next exit, Gotham… Welcome. pic.twitter.com/d0zSwOT7bm— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) May 14, 2026 Soon after, Reeves gave another Marvel Cinematic Universe alum, Sebastian Stan, his own GIF. In it, Stan, who is rumored to be playing Harvey Dent, looks angry and soaked in some dark place. Reeves gave him two bat emojis as well, with the following sentence: “In a Gotham state of mind… Welcome.” Witness drenched Stan in all his glory: In a Gotham state of mind… Welcome. pic.twitter.com/K3bCD83zCI— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) May 14, 2026 Reeves is confirming rumors we heard this January that Johansson and Stan joined the production. Johansson’s GIF doesn’t give us any details on who she’ll be playing, though my previous spitball guess that she was playing Poison Ivy doesn’t seem to fit the vibe she’s giving off in that car. Reeves also confirmed via GIF that we’ll be seeing Robert Pattinson once again as the Bat, Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon, Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb/the Penguin, Andy Serkis as Bruce’s Alfred, Jayme Lawson as Gotham Mayor Bella Reál, and Gil Perez-Abraham as Officer Martinez. With production underway, odds are good that the film will meet its current premiere date of October 1, 2027. The details of the story are also under wraps, though we know the script comes from Reeves and Mattson Tomlin, and what we’ll see, according to Reeves, has “never really been done in a movie before.” [end-mark] The post Matt Reeves Confirms Two Marvel Stars Will Be in <i>The Batman: Part II</i>‘s Cast appeared first on Reactor.