The movie just took a huge step in finally being released. That movie being The Batman: Part II. It was obvious when The Batman came out, a sequel will follow. The film did everything right when it came to a Batman movie. Upon arrival it was an instant success. Fan approved nearly every detail. It was so success that it spawned a little shared universe with the equally successful, The Penguin. Fans and movie goers were anticipated the next film. A sequel was quickly officially announced after the first film came out. But fans waited and waited and waited for any news regarding the film. Matt Reeves, James Gunn and even Robert Pattinson were updating on the progress it. But each bit of news was not the news fans wanted. Announcements of delays also added to the frustration. Fans became impatient with Matt Reeves’ approach to writing the script. The Batman: Part II was starting to feel as if its life was on the edge. However, just recently Matt Reeves has completed and turned in the script, giving fans a spike of excitement. But, does the long delay of The Batman: Part II put the movie under a lot of pressure?
If the movie did come out a bit sooner, The Batman: Part II still would have been under pressure to impress. A job of a sequel is to get what worked in the previous movie and make it better. The Batman, in the eyes of many, was a great film. Many elements of the movie worked and were nearly perfect. That is a dilemma for any sequel for any franchise. So, for this sequel to outperform the last movie, it would have put pressure on the movie regardless of the release date. Considering the rule of thumb when it comes to sequels, The Batman: Part II has to make the perfect even better. That is a really difficult task considering The Batman was already a superb film. But sequels are expected to be bigger and better than the last despite the quality of the previous film.
What makes the matter bit trickier for the film is that it is a Batman movie. With that comes a lot of passionate and loyal fans. The expectations they hold puts a certain type of pressure on the film. They know what should go into a film and they know what they want to see in the film. The Batman gave fans a version of the character not seen in cinema a whole lot. A version of the character that really gave off a detective noir style. A real grittiness. A Batman movie where he was in nearly every scene. Fans obviously want more from this Batman. The longer wait, created more anticipation. Fans as loyal as Batman fans do expect a lot, the longer they have to wait. That’s for everything. But Batman fans have a certain fire to their passion for the character. When something goes good for the character, they expect something great to follow. Building up anticipation is a great tactic but Batman fans, especially the ones really passionate about The Batman, will want the wait to be worthwhile. As long as the wait was, they want the quality to match that and go beyond.
And perhaps an unseen factor that could possibly add to the pressure The Batman: Part II will face is being compared to The Dark Knight. The quality of The Batman instantly put it in comparison to The Dark Knight. It was clear that The Dark Knight still reigns supreme over not only Batman movies but superhero movies. For any quality Batman and superhero movie that does come out, it instantly gets compared to The Dark Knight. For Batman movies, this comparison will be almost automatic. But since The Batman: Part II will be the first true Batman sequel since The Dark Knight, that does put it already in the same boat as The Dark Knight. The debate will quickly be made if The Batman: Part II is a better sequel than The Dark Knight if it does meet the quality of The Batman. It may not be in the forefront of the minds of fans but the idea will be present.
When something great happens, expectations for follow-ups naturally happen. Expectations for it to happen quickly is just as common. But as the old adage says, ‘you can’t rush art’. That is the case for The Batman: Part II. Matt Reeves did take his time for this script not in any act of spite but he wanted to get a perfect story. And that’s what the story for The Batman: Part II needs to be to continue the world The Batman has created, perfect. The time to get the story done right has had some side effects. The main one being that the time spent on it should match the quality of the film. With the combination of it being a Batman film, the movie does face some extra pressure that other films quite frankly do not have to face. But those two reasons are going to play a big role to why the movie won’t crack under the pressure. A lot of time was used to fine out the details for the story. And it being a Batman movie, it needs to be successful because a shortcoming with the character is not an option.
