Matt Reeves probably didn’t intend to imply what he implied with two specific words during his The Batman Part II casting announcements this week, but what if he did? This week, the writer and director of the highly anticipated Bat-sequel took to X to announce the cast for the film, which opens October 1, 2027. Reeves posted about everyone, from Batman himself, played by Robert Pattinson, all the way down to new additions like Scarlett Johansson and Sebastian Stan. He even revealed a few names that Hollywood reporters hadn’t picked up on yet, such as Brian Tyree Henry, the award-winning actor best known for his roles on Atlanta, in Marvel’s Eternals, and as the voice of Miles’ dad in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Each announcement post came with a short, quippy welcome. “We meet again, my friend.” “Welcome back to the fight, my friend.” “Next exit, Gotham. Welcome.” “Out of the shadows. Welcome.” Those are just a few. But then he came to Tyree Henry, the last of the bunch. The grand finale. And here’s the post. Welcome to the party, man… 🦇🦇 pic.twitter.com/9ESphamrCI — Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) May 14, 2026 On first inspection, “Welcome to the party, man” seems innocent enough. The movie is the “party,” and he’s welcoming the actor, as he did the others. But some of us viewed the phrase a little differently. This, after all, is about a Batman movie. And fans of Batman movies have heard the phrase “party man” before. Where exactly?