Los Angeles, Sept 1 (IANS): The Robert Pattinson-starrer ‘The Batman’ had already announced its sequel for 2025. While date is likely to be pushed due to the Hollywood strikes, director Matt Reeves has revealed the villains, narrowing down the options to either Clayface or Mister Freeze.

Matt Reeves had earlier also expressed great interest in wanting to use either Clayface or Mister Freeze for the sequel, along with the Court of Owls, Professor Pyg or the Calendar Man instead of constantly focusing on the Joker.

The sequel will kick off production in March 24, 2024, instead of the originally scheduled to begin filming this November, due to the ongoing WGA strike, though a delay in release date, while likely hasn’t been confirmed, Aceshowbiz reported.

‘The Batman’ was noted for its dark and gritty tone, and in particular its neo-noir style of filmmaking and focusing more on the detective aspects of Batman, making it one of the more comic accurate movies.

The X (formerly Twitter) user MyTimeToShineHello who is known for keeping track of all the updates regarding ‘The Batman’ confirmed that Clayface has been the confirmed villain.

Earlier, Andy Serkis who played Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred in the first film had also said that Clayface was a very likely option as Matt Reeves was particularly fascinated with him, although what version of Clayface he will use is unknown.

A prominent enemy of Batman, Clayface possesses clay-like bodies and shapeshifting abilities. The character has appeared on adult animated black comedy superhero series ‘Harley Quinn’, voiced by Alan Tudyk, and in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU), voiced by Ron Perlman. Live-action versions of the character also appeared on the television series ‘Gotham’, portrayed by Brian McManamon, and ‘Pennyworth’, portrayed by Lorraine Burroughs.

Details of ‘The Batman 2’ are mostly kept under wraps. In April 2022, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group Boss Toby Emmerich confirmed at CinemaCon in Las Vegas that the sequel has been greenlit, with Pattinson, writer/director Reeves "and the whole team" returning.

Reeves, who also made an appearance at the panel, shared at the time, "This is thrilling for me." He admitted he is a fan of Pattinson's character and "is excited to jump back into this world for the next chapter."

The first film also stars Zoe Kravitz, Colin Farrell, Jeffrey Wright, Andy Serkis and Paul Dano. No release date is set just yet for the sequel.