Sebastian Stan has named his role in The Batman: Part II as Harvey Dent, Gotham’s district attorney. Speaking to the French paper Le Journal du Dimanche while promoting a different film, Stan said he “can’t say anything” about the sequel “where I play Harvey Dent” — the first plain statement of his character from anyone on the production.
The quote surfaced on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, in an interview with the French Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, and was picked up the same morning by The Playlist and IGN. Neither Warner Bros. nor director Matt Reeves has issued a statement about the role.
What Sebastian Stan actually said
Stan was not being asked about Gotham. The interview was about secrecy on the two superhero productions he is attached to, and most of his answer concerns Avengers: Doomsday, which he says he shot without ever reading a complete script.
“Honestly, I have absolutely no idea,” Stan said of that film. “Because we didn’t have a script. We were just shooting scattered scenes. It’s a different way of working — continuous, constantly evolving.” He added that Marvel withheld the full screenplay deliberately: “The producers didn’t want us to read it in its entirety to avoid journalists asking us questions.”
Then came the line that travelled: “I’ve been following this rule for fifteen years, so I’m used to it. I also can’t say anything about The Batman: Part II, by Matt Reeves, where I play Harvey Dent.”
One caveat worth stating plainly, because most coverage has dropped it: this is an English rendering of a French-language interview, and the English-speaking outlets carrying it are working from that translation rather than from their own transcript. The phrasing may shift. A character name is not the sort of detail that survives a bad translation by accident, but the quote is second-hand and should be read that way.
Why one sentence settles what months of reporting could not
Here is the part that makes this newsworthy rather than incremental, and it is the piece the day’s coverage has largely skipped.
When Reeves revealed his new cast in May 2026, he did it as a run of social-media posts that named actors and then hinted at their parts with GIFs instead of stating them. Johansson was announced with a clip from Under the Skin. Charles Dance arrived as Tywin Lannister. Brian Tyree Henry got a clip from If Beale Street Could Talk. Sebastian Koch was captioned “locked and loaded for Gotham.” Every one of those posts confirmed a name. Not one confirmed a role.
That is why Stan’s sentence matters out of proportion to its length. It is the first time anyone actually working on the film has named a character in plain language rather than gestured at one. And it did not come from a DC panel, a trailer or a studio release: Stan is currently promoting Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or winner Fjord, and the confirmation fell out sideways during a conversation about art-house filmmaking. The most concrete piece of The Batman: Part II casting news since that rollout was not published by the people making it.
“Harvey Dent” and “Two-Face” are not the same statement
Almost every headline today reads Two-Face. Stan did not say Two-Face. He said Harvey Dent, and in this particular film that distinction carries real weight.
Dent is Gotham’s district attorney long before he is a villain, and Reeves’ Gotham has been building toward that office since the first film. Two supporting casting reports point the same way. Scarlett Johansson is widely reported to be playing Gilda Dent, Harvey’s wife — a character who exists almost entirely in the pre-scarring stretch of Harvey’s life, and whose defining role comes from The Long Halloween, the book most often cited as the template for Reeves’ Gotham. Charles Dance was reported by Deadline as Harvey’s abusive father.
Assemble those and you get a film interested in the man, the marriage and the family that produced him — not necessarily one that opens with a scarred face. It is entirely possible Part II ends where a lesser version would have started. To be clear, that is our reading of the casting pattern and not a confirmed plot detail: whether the sequel completes the transformation into Two-Face at all is still unknown, and nobody involved has said.
What this does to the Victor Zsasz report
For roughly two months the loudest claim about Stan’s role said something else entirely. In June 2026, scooper Jeff Sneider reported that Stan was playing the serial killer Victor Zsasz and that Brian Tyree Henry was the production’s Harvey Dent. That report was aggregated almost everywhere and hardened into received wisdom, helped along by Stan turning up with a shaved head.
Stan’s own words point firmly away from it. What they do not do is resolve Brian Tyree Henry, and this is where a lot of today’s write-ups quietly overreach. Henry is confirmed to be in the movie and his part remains undisclosed. If you see a cast list still assigning him Harvey Dent, it is downstream of a report the actor in question has now contradicted — but that does not tell you who Henry is playing. Nobody has said.
The Batman: Part II cast — confirmed roles versus reported ones
| Actor | Role | How firm is it? |
|---|---|---|
| Robert Pattinson | Bruce Wayne / Batman | Confirmed — returning lead |
| Colin Farrell | Oz Cobb / The Penguin | Confirmed — returning |
| Jeffrey Wright | Jim Gordon | Confirmed — returning |
| Andy Serkis | Alfred Pennyworth | Confirmed — returning |
| Sebastian Stan | Harvey Dent | Stated by Stan himself; never announced by Warner Bros. |
| Scarlett Johansson | Gilda Dent | Casting confirmed by Reeves; role reported, not announced |
| Charles Dance | Harvey Dent’s father | Casting confirmed by Reeves; role reported, not announced |
| Brian Tyree Henry | Undisclosed | Casting confirmed by Reeves; no role given |
| Sebastian Koch | Undisclosed | Casting confirmed by Reeves; no role given |
When does The Batman: Part II come out?
February 18, 2028. Warner Bros. moved it there in July 2026 from October 1, 2027, as Deadline reported at the time, giving Reeves a longer post-production runway and landing the film on Presidents’ Day weekend. It is the sequel’s third date change.
Principal photography began June 12, 2026, based at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden with location work across London, Liverpool and Glasgow, which is once again standing in for Gotham. Stan’s other blockbuster lands first: Avengers: Doomsday opens December 18, 2026 — the film he says he shot without a full script. If you want the wider picture there, our Avengers: Doomsday guide tracks what is actually confirmed.
The short version
An actor named his own character in a newspaper interview about a different movie. That is genuinely all that happened — but because Reeves spent his entire casting rollout naming actors without naming their parts, it is the most direct answer anyone has given. Treat “Harvey Dent” as solid, and everything past it — the scarring, the timeline, Brian Tyree Henry — as open.
If you want the character’s history before the film gets to him, start with our rundown of the best Batman villains, or the essential Batman comics that gave Reeves his Gotham.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Sebastian Stan playing Two-Face in The Batman: Part II?
He said he plays Harvey Dent, which is the same man before the scarring. He did not say Two-Face, and nobody on the production has confirmed whether the sequel completes that transformation on screen.
Has Warner Bros. officially confirmed Sebastian Stan’s role?
No. Matt Reeves confirmed Stan is in the film in May 2026 but never stated his character. The only on-record statement naming Harvey Dent is Stan’s own, given to Le Journal du Dimanche.
What happened to the report that Stan was playing Victor Zsasz?
A June 2026 report from Jeff Sneider claimed Stan was Victor Zsasz and that Brian Tyree Henry was Harvey Dent. Stan’s comment contradicts it. Henry’s role is still undisclosed.
Who is Scarlett Johansson playing in The Batman: Part II?
Reeves confirmed her casting but not her role. She is widely reported to be Gilda Dent, Harvey’s wife, a character drawn from Batman: The Long Halloween. That has not been officially announced.
When does The Batman: Part II come out?
February 18, 2028. Warner Bros. delayed it from October 1, 2027 in July 2026. Filming began June 12, 2026 in the United Kingdom.
