Matt Reeves now has another major directing project lined up, and it’s not Batman 3.
Variety reports Reeves is attached to direct and executive produce an Apple TV adaptation of The Bonfire of the Vanities from David E. Kelley, with Warner Bros. Television producing.
Reeves is also still moving ahead with The Batman: Part II, which has just begun filming and is dated for October 1, 2027.
The bigger question is what comes after that.
Matt Reeves adds another directing project
Reeves taking on Bonfire of the Vanities suggests his next directing priority after The Batman: Part II may not automatically be a third Batman movie.
And this isn’t just fan assumption — Reeves has been explicit about it. Speaking to Collider in 2024 while promoting The Penguin, he was asked whether the trilogy was still happening and answered, “Yes, that is still the plan.” DC Studios co-chief Peter Safran has since described Reeves’ corner the same way — “The Batman trilogy, The Penguin series.” But The Batman: Part III still has not been officially announced.
That leaves Pattinson’s Batman universe in an interesting spot. Part II is real. Part III is still an assumption.
Reeves appears selective about what he directs
Reeves has a famously selective directing track — the Planet of the Apes films, The Batman, and now The Batman: Part II. He doesn’t take jobs casually, which is what made the Apple move worth a second look.
That said, it’s worth being precise about what Bonfire is and isn’t. It’s a TV series still in development rather than greenlit, it’s produced by Warner Bros. Television — so Reeves isn’t leaving the studio — and it’s the kind of project a film director can shepherd without it blocking a return to Gotham. The real signal isn’t that Bonfire is pulling Reeves away. It’s that Batman 3 still hasn’t been announced, and he seems in no hurry to lock it in while he fills his slate with other work.
If he’d always planned to roll straight into a third Batman, you’d expect to see it on the board by now. It isn’t.
