In a not altogether unsurprising move, The Batman release date has been delayed once again, this time to 2022. The shift comes on the heels of our news break that Warner Bros. was moving Dune out of December 2020 and into October 2021, which appeared to conflict with the October 1, 2021 release date for The Batman.

Indeed, Warner Bros. has announced a series of release date changes for a number of their films:

  • The Batman moves from October 1, 2021 to March 4, 2022
  • The Matrix 4 moves from April 1, 2022 to December 22, 2021
  • The Flash moves from June 3, 2022 to November 4, 2022
  • Shazam! 2 moves from November 4, 2022 to June 2, 2023
  • Black Adam moves from December 22, 2021 and is now undated
the-batman-movie-image-robert-pattinson
Image via Warner Bros.

All of these Warner Bros. release date changes are a result of the COVID-related delays that have laid waste to the 2020 release calendar. Not only are major films like Dune that were scheduled to come out this year now being released next year instead, but production on films like The Batman suffered delays that have caused their schedules to increase in length.

The Matrix sequel — which brings back Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss alongside director Lana Wachowski — is the only film here that's actually moving up on the schedule, but clearly Warner Bros. is reassessing its calendar from a financial standpoint as well, and needs to make sure its surest box office bets align with its fiscal calendars going forward.

The big curiosity out of this bunch is Black Adam being undated. The Dwayne Johnson DC movie was supposed to start filming this summer, but as a result of the COVID delays is now eyeing a start-date in the first quarter of 2021. At least last we heard. It's possible something has changed, or it's simply possible Warner Bros. doesn't yet have a firm new date for the highly anticipated film yet. Regardless, casting is well underway and I can't imagine WB would let a Dwayne Johnson superhero movie slip through their fingertips, so hopefully we hear word of a new release date for that one soon.

As for The Batman, the film was the cornerstone of Warner Bros.' successful DC FanDome event this past August where it debuted its excellent first trailer. I was quite looking forward to that Halloween-centric release date, and will admit I'm a bit bummed it's now being positioned as a regular spring tentpole. Alas, at least we'll still get to see it, and at least we'll get Dune to tide us over in the wake of this delay.

For more on the DC universe, check out our ranking of every DCEU movie thus far.

black-adam-concept-art-7
Image via Warner Bros.