Intro for December 4, 2025

Dear Gossips, 

My favorite time of year is the liminal space between Christmas and New Year's. My birthday falls during that time. I think this is why I have a strange relationship with chronology. Because my birthday exists in the never-ending hallway of time, I have no sense of temporal relativity. Everything is always just down the hall.

I can feel the pull of that liminality approaching. I’m already bumping off meetings at work till the new year, going through my calendar and wondering what tasks and chores I can put off for another month. I am winding down, approaching hibernation. Not Hollywood! The town dies at Christmas, true enough, but before then, there are a lot of red carpet events, for the year-end movies, for the year-end awards, for the various “of the year” honors, and there is frantic dealmaking to squeeze in before everyone turns on their “out of office” replies. 

To that end, Scarlett Johansson is reportedly closing a deal to star in The Batman Part II alongside Robert Pattinson. At first glance, this is surprising, in part because she’s crossing the comic book aisle, jumping from the MCU to the DCU or whatever we’re calling the new DC cinematic universe. I honestly can’t remember, and Matt Reeves’ Batman franchise isn’t part of it, anyway. Or it’s an alternate universe within it? I cannot stress enough how much I cannot remember how James Gunn’s Superman-led universe and Reeves’ Bat-verse are or are not connected. I just know that I wish Gunn would let RBattz coexist with David Corenswet’s Superman. I have a deep yearning to see Corenswet’s golly-gee Superman who f-cks encounter Pattinson’s virgin goth Batman. 

With more thought, though, it makes a lot of sense. Since exiting the MCU in 2019, at least until Secret Wars when I fully expect the OG Avengers to reunite, ScarJo has been assembling a patchwork of franchises to keep up her eight-figure salary habit. She starred in Jurassic World Rebirth this summer and there is reportedly a sequel in the works, she’s booked a gig in a new Exorcist movie from Mike Flanagan, and now she’s joining Matt Reeves’ Bat-verse. Someone has to support Colin Jost’s Staten Island ferry money pit! 

ScarJo’s role is unknown but I’m betting on Vicki Vale or Poison Ivy. I am basing that on nothing but vibes. Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman, meanwhile, is not part of the new film, which is slated to film in spring 2026 ahead of a 2027 release date (five years after The Batman hit theaters. Too long, bud!). I don’t think there’s a big scandal or anything suspect about Kravitz not being in the sequel. It’s not unusual for villains to come and go from superhero franchises. 

It only really stands out because since its initial release, The Batman has grown in estimation and people really love Kravitz as Selina Kyle and just want to see more of her. Not a bad thing! We’ll have to settle for ScarJo, though, in whatever mystery role she’s playing. I can already hear some of you saying “downgrade”.

Live long and gossip,

Sarah