The Batman: When and Where to Watch Online

After years of anticipation, The Batman is finally here.

Originally, fans hoped to catch Robert Pattinson’s turn as the Dark Knight and his alter-ego, the orphaned billionaire Bruce Wayne, on June 25^th, 2021. When COVID-19 disrupted director Matt Reeves’s shooting schedule, Warner Bros. set a new release date for October 1^st, 2021. That, too, needed adjusting, but no more! The film finally hit theaters on March 4^th, 2022.

But there’s still one release date some Bat-fans long to know: when will The Batman be available on streaming platforms? 

In years past, that question would have been ridiculous. After all, movies wouldn’t even come to Blu-Ray until months after the film’s theatrical run ended, and it would take several more months for the movie to show up on Amazon Prime or Netflix, but in a twist worthy of Catwoman’s switch from antagonistic cat burglar to Batman’s main squeeze, the release date shuffle has turned out to be a good thing for people who like to take in blockbusters from the comfort of their own homes. 

Many studios have taken to releasing some movies to streaming services on the same day as their theatrical release, as we saw with the Disney/Pixar movie Soul debuting on Disney+ and the latest Michael Meyers film Halloween Kills premiering on Peacock. 

But none have been as ambitious as Warner Brothers, who added all its 2021 films to HBO Max on the same day as their theatrical debut. Film fanatics didn’t have to wait before they could watch even franchise hits like Dune and The Suicide Squad at home. 

For that reason, many hope that they can head to HBO Max on March 4^th and enjoy The Batman on their own tv.  Sadly, that won’t be the case. Warner Brothers has chosen not to continue day and date releases on HBO Max. 

That said, they shouldn’t have to wait too long before Pattinson’s Batman steps out of the shadows and into subscribers’ living rooms. In a December 2021 interview with the podcast Recode Media, HBO CEO Jason Kilar dropped some hints about the movie’s appearance on HBO Max. According to Kilar, Warner Brothers plans to add The Batman to the streaming service 46 days after its theatrical release. 

By that timeline, we should be able to stream The Batman on HBO Max on April 19, 2022. 

Now, just to be clear, Kilar didn’t use that specific date. He just said that the 46-day delay will be the new normal for HBO Max releases. But it doesn’t take a mind like the Riddler to figure out that home viewers can enjoy the movie sooner rather than later.  Even better, Kilar reminded listeners that other Warner Bros. movies will be following suit, including the upcoming DCEU entries Black Adam and The Flash. 

So now that fans know the Bat-time and the Bat-channel when they can stream The Batman, what should they do while they wait?  They should keep building the anticipation by checking out our glowing review of the film!