Sadly, despite only recently returning to filming following a forced hiatus due to the ongoing global situation, production on Matt Reeves' The Batman has come to a grinding halt once again. This time, it is because the Dark Knight himself, Robert Pattinson tested positive COVID-19, and it would be a difficult task indeed to make a Batman movie without the title character. WarnerMedia Studios & Networks head Ann Sarnoff has now provided an update on the situation, stating that she hopes the movie will return to filming again "very soon."

"We're still in the middle of investigating what is the situation. We're pausing temporarily for now until we have more information, but we have all the protocols set up to do contact tracing and hopefully get back up into production very soon."

Hopefully Pattinson will recover and be able to return to brutally beating criminals to a pulp quickly, but it is possible, that should the situation worsen, that the release date could be postponed. Director Matt Reeves revealed at the recent DC FanDome event that he only shot about a quarter of The Batman, so there is still much left to do to bring the DC icon back to the big screen.

The Batman is a noir-driven story that picks up with Bruce Wayne around two years into his crime-fighting career. A young Bruce Wayne has become disheartened by the lack of impact he is having on crime in Gotham, when suddenly a series of murders occur at the hands of The Riddler. Lead down a path that will reveal dark secrets about his parents, Bruce is forced to confront the corruption going on in the shadows of his city, all while trying to catch The Riddler before he kills again.

Reeves revealed some insight into his intentions for The Batman saying, "Like he's a very alive character and to me to tell a version of Batman where, again, it wasn't about how we became Batman. But, it's about the early days of how he is Batman, and he is so far from being perfect and watch us sort of see him becoming what we all know about him and see it in new ways. I felt like that was a way to do something that hasn't been done. And that was really what I was excited to be able to do in this iteration."

Reeves has also been heaping praise on his leading man, saying that it was not just Pattinson's acting talent that drew him to the actor, but their shared passion for the Batman mythology as well. "[Robert has] been working on his craft in this really incredible way, and he also happens to be a tremendous, passionate sort of fan of Batman that way that I am and so... it was an incredible thing to be able to connect with him and to share the excitement about the character and to work with him," Reeves said. "I mean, you know, he looks like Batman but more than anything, he has the soul of someone I think can play a Batman like you'd never seen before."

Alongside Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman, the rest of cast includes the likes of Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as Riddler, Colin Farrell as Penguin, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson and Jeffery Wright as Commissioner Gordon. The Batman is currently scheduled to be released on October 1, 2021, with filming due to commence in the UK as soon as next month following a pause in production. This comes to us courtesy of Deadline. The topper art comes from @JaxsonDerr on Red Bubble.