Scarlett Johansson is joining the cast of The Batman 2 – and Zoë Kravitz's Catwoman is not expected to return

Scarlett Johansson could be joining the DC world in The Batman 2, according to new reports that say the actor is in talks to join the film.

Johansson, of course, is already a superhero icon thanks to her role as Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (although, we haven't seen her since 2021's Black Widow prequel, and we're unlikely to see her again after Natasha Romanoff died in Avengers: Endgame).

News of Johansson being in talks to join The Batman 2 was first broken by Nexus Point News, then confirmed by Variety. But, while Variety says no character details are available, Nexus Point News indicates the character "may be a new love interest to Bruce Wayne." The report then suggests the "potential characters" Johansson might play are Andrea Beaumont/the Phantasm, Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy, Vicki Vale, or Julie Madison (but, since Variety doesn't confirm anything, we should take this with a huge grain of salt).

Andrea Beaumont was introduced in the fan-favorite animated movie Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, but she has since made the jump to the comics, too. In the film, Andrea and Bruce Wayne fall in love before he officially becomes Batman, but Andrea is forced to flee Gotham thanks to her father's business with the city's mobsters. Andrea later returns as a masked figure planning revenge, in a storyline that causes a great deal of inner turmoil for Batman.

Plant-themed supervillain Poison Ivy, meanwhile, hasn't been seen in a live-action film since Uma Thurman's depiction of the character in 1997's Batman & Robin.

Vicki Vale is a journalist (Kim Basinger played her in the '89 Batman movie), and, in the comics, Julie Madison was the first love interest of Bruce Wayne (Elle Macpherson played her in Batman & Robin).

Another interesting detail, though, is that Zoë Kravitz's Catwoman isn't expected to return. In The Batman ending, she left Batman and Gotham behind, so it's not a huge surprise – but it's still intriguing that we won't see her again in the sequel.

So far, The Batman 2 is completely shrouded in mystery. We do know that Colin Farrell's Penguin will be back, though, but only for a few scenes. Matt Reeves returns to write (co-writing with Mattson Tomlin) and direct, and the film is in a separate universe from James Gunn's and Peter Safran's DCU. Robert Pattinson will don the cape and cowl again as Batman.

The Batman 2 arrives on October 1, 2027. In the meantime, see what else is in store with our guide to all the upcoming DC movies and shows.