After A 34 Year Wait, One Batman Hero Is Appearing In 2 Movies In 2 Years

After over three decades away from anything resembling a central movie role, Batman‘s film offerings are set to put one DC hero in the spotlight for two years in a row, cementing a sharp change in the character’s on-screen fate. The blessing and curse of DC’s expansive hero and villain roster is that some characters have to get the short end of the proverbial on-screen stick – as there is no shortage of fascinating figures to choose to adapt for movie and TV roles, and not every character is able to get the same level of on-screen attention.

On the plus side, this does always mean there’s a prospective assortment of underadapted faces for releases to draw from, and by doing so delight audiences with the novelty that comes from seeing them in a format they often don’t appear in – which has the chance to show a viewer a more obscure character who could become their new favorite, should the cards land just right.

2025 and 2026 have teamed up to do this by bringing one character who has often had to shy away from the limelight despite being an interesting member of Batman’s wider mythos center stage after a long wait.

2025 & 2026 Brought Azrael Into Batman’s Movie Stories

While Azrael is still relatively well-known to broader Batman fans because of the appearances of his different incarnations in the comics, the TV show Gotham, video games like Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes and the Batman: Arkham games, and even the Batman: Knightfall audio drama, the hero has previously been a much rarer figure in DC’s movie worlds for more than one reason.

However, 2025 brought a change to this, with a reimagined version of Azrael making his debut in Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires, wherein his civilian persona was that of Pedro de Alvarado, a real-life Spanish conquistador who is one of the figures Batman faces off against in the Elseworlds animated Batman movie.

To continue this trend, 2026 is also set to feature Azrael in an animated Batman movie, this time because the first part of the upcoming three-part Batman: Knightfall film adaptation is slated to release in 2026, and Batman: Knightfall – Part 1‘s trailer has shown that Azrael will appear in this chapter of the trilogy by featuring him, meaning we can expect to see the character here too.

Indeed, IGN’s Knightfall Part 1 trailer description also notably mentions that Pablo Schreiber has been cast as Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael for the film, further cementing our awareness of what’s next for the hero on-screen.

Why Azrael Is So Rarely Adapted In DC’s Batman Movies

Though Azrael’s neat suit design and interesting status as a sometimes antihero, sometimes villain in DC’s world gives the character immediate movie potential, the fact we’ve rarely seen anyone as Azrael on-screen does make sense given Azrael’s ties to comic lore, and the more complicated position movie stories do find themselves in if trying to adapt him on-screen.

Azrael’s main and most famous role in the comics is in that of Knightfall, wherein he serves as one of the figures who steps in to try and protect Gotham in his own way after the Dark Knight is incapacitated by Bane. As such, the infrequency with which this story is adapted into the movie world naturally also means Azrael has also not been a frontrunner pick for movie casts – and even films that have adapted elements of Knightfall’s story, like The Dark Knight Rises, haven’t had the time or the cast room to also add in Azrael logistically.

Similarly, any movie that isn’t set to adapt Knightfall would have to explain why Azrael has suddenly appeared on the scene should they wish to introduce him, which is a move that could easily derail a portion of any film’s plot solely for the sake of introducing a character most movies simply don’t need. This further reveals why Clash of Empires was able to buck this trend, since it could simply reimagine the character in a way that fit its alternate universe story.

With all of this in mind, it’s perhaps no surprise Azrael has been away from the movie screen for a considerable number of years, though this makes it all the more pleasant to note the character is set to have gotten two years in a row where he’s appeared in a Batman movie. Depending on what the hero’s film future holds, and when Knightfall‘s other parts release as well as what parts of the comic they adapt, it also seems possible this streak may continue, which would be a striking change for the character.