Batman 2

***Batman 2*** is a 2010 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman, produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the sequel to 2008's Batman, and is the third film in the DC Cinematic Universe (DCU). Directed by Christopher Nolan and written by Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan, the film stars Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne / Batman, alongside Maggie Gyllenhaal, Sean Maguire, Meghan Markle, Bradley Cooper, Sean Bean, and Viola Davis. Six months after the events of Batman, Bruce Wayne is resisting calls by the United States government to hand over the Batman suit and his technology while also combating his declining health from being powered by the technology in his base. Meanwhile, rogue German scientist Ulrich Fries has developed the same technology and built weapons of his own in order to pursue a vendetta against the Wayne family, in the process joining forces with Wayne's business rival, Roland Daggett.

## Plot

In Germany, the media covers Bruce Wayne's disclosure of his identity as Batman. Ulrich Fries, whose father Victor Fries has just died, sees this and begins building a a suit similar to Wayne's. Six months later, Wayne is a superstar and uses his Batman suit for peaceful means, resisting government pressure to sell his designs. He reinstitutes the Wayne Foundation to continue his father Thomas's legacy.

Wayne has updated his suit to allow technology to flow through it, which can power his weapons as well. However, the tech is slowly poisoning Wayne, who cannot find a substitute. Growing increasingly reckless and despondent about his impending death, and choosing not to tell anyone about his condition, Wayne appoints his personal assistant Vicki Vale CEO of Stark Industries, and hires Wayne employee Diane Lake to replace her as his personal assistant. Wayne competes in the Monaco Historic Grand Prix, where he is attacked in the middle of the race by Fries, who wields a gun that can freeze anything. Wayne dons his armor and defeats Fries, but the suit is severely damaged. Fries explains his intention was to prove to the world that Batman is not invincible. Impressed by Fries' performance, Wayne's rival, Roland Daggett, fakes Fries' death while breaking him out of prison and asks him to build a line of armored suits to upstage Wayne. During what he believes is his final birthday party, Wayne gets drunk while wearing the new suit. Disgusted, Wayne's best friend, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Tim Drake dons Wayne's Mark II prototype armor and tries to restrain him. The fight ends in a stalemate, so Drake confiscates the Mark II for the U.S. Air Force.

Amanda Waller, director of A.R.G.U.S., approaches Wayne, revealing "Lake" to be Agent Dinah Lance and that Thomas Wayne was an A.R.G.U.S. founder whom Waller knew personally. Waller explains that Fries' father jointly invented the Batman technology with Wayne, but when Victor tried to sell it for profit, Wayne had him deported. The Germans sent Victor to prison. Waller gives Wayne some of his father's old material; a hidden message in the diorama of the 1974 Wayne Foundation proves to be a diagram of the structure of a new element. With the aid of his computer A.F.R.E.D., Wayne synthesizes it. When he learns Fries is still alive, he places the new element in his suit and ends his palladium dependency.

At the Foundation, Daggett unveils Fries's armored drones, led by Drake in a heavily weaponized version of the Mark II suit. Wayne arrives in the Mark VI suit to warn Drake, but Fries remotely takes control of both the drones and Drake's suit and attacks Batman. Daggett is arrested while Lance and Wayne's bodyguard Lucius Fox go after Fries at Daggett's factory. Fries escapes, but Lance returns control of the Mark II suit to Drake. Wayne and Drake together defeat Fries and his drones. Fries seemingly commits suicide by blowing up his suit, along with the defeated drones.

At a debriefing, Waller informs Wayne that because of Wayne's difficult personality, A.R.G.U.S. intends to use him only as a consultant. Wayne and Drake receive medals for their heroism. In a post-credits scene, A.R.G.U.S. agent Jake Goldstein reports the discovery of a large sword at the bottom of a crater in a desert in Arizona.

## Cast

* Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman
* Maggie Gyllenhaal as Vicki Vale
* Sean Maguire as Tim Drake
* Meghan Markle as Diane Lake/Dinah Lance
* Bradley Cooper as Roland Daggett
* Sean Bean as Ulrich Fries/Mr. Freeze
* Viola Davis as Amanda Waller

## Marketing

Affleck, Maguire, Markle, and Cooper attended 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International to promote the film.