Warner Bros. has made a new casting announcement for Matt Reeves’ upcoming superhero flick The Batman. Barry Keoghan, acclaimed for his roles in Dunkirk and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, will be joining the cast as Officer Stanley Merkel. In DC Comics, Officer Merkel is Commissioner James Gordon’s first partner, introduced by writer Frank Miller in 1987’s Batman: Year One. 

This past weekend was a big one for DC fans, as the DC FanDome shared new tidbits of information about high-profile releases such as Wonder Woman 1984 and The Batman. Warner Bros. shared the news of Keoghan’s casting quietly, following The Batman’s panel at the virtual confab. Keoghan joins an impressive league of actors, including Robert Pattinson in the lead role, Paul Dano as The Riddler, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, and Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon.

At the DC FanDome over the weekend, fans were also gifted with The Batman’s first theatrical trailer. The clip clocks in at nearly three minutes, which is a feat for a movie with only around a quarter of production completed. In it, we learn that Dano’s The Riddler will serve as the film’s main villain. We also get a peek at Kravitz’s Catwoman costume.

The Batman is currently set for an October 2021 release. You can also catch Keoghan in Marvel's upcoming movie Eternals, which is expected to come out February 12, 2021.

Gallery — A Visual History of Batman in Movies:

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