After years of delays, The Batman Part II is finally happening, with the Matt Reeves-directed sequel shooting in London this summer. But one of the big question marks surrounding the production was whether or not Andy Serkis would be able to reprise his role as Alfred Pennyworth, Batman’s loyal butler. While it would seem like a no-brainer, Serkis is in the middle of prepping his Lord of the Rings movie, The Hunt for Gollum, which—in addition to playing the title character—he’ll also be directing. With that presumably the priority, no one was sure whether or not Serkis would be able to reprise the role, raising the possibility that either the role would be recast or simply written out of the current script.

Yet, it seems like the scheduling will work out after all, with Deadline confirming Serkis will indeed be reprising his role. In recent interviews for his directorial effort Animal Farm (we’re actually speaking to him in a few weeks), Serkis seemed optimistic that he’d be able to join the production at some point. It’s worth noting that both movies are being made by Warner Bros., so presumably the units working on both films were able to sort things out.

It’s certainly a busy time for Serkis. Animal Farm comes out on May 1st after a long production (it started in 2022). The Hunt for Gollum is only the first in a new series of Lord of the Rings movies being made by WB, New Line, and Peter Jackson’s WingNut Films. Another film, Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, is also being prepped, with none other than Stephen Colbert (a longtime Tolkien fan) co-writing the script.

The Hunt for Gollum is set to follow Aragorn’s perilous quest to capture Gollum before the creature can reveal the Ring’s location to Sauron. It’s been rumoured that Viggo Mortensen will not be reprising the part, with it being set prior to The Lord of the Rings trilogy and based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s footnotes. As for The Batman Part II, in addition to Robert Pattinson, Scarlett Johansson and Sebastian Stan will co-star, with the latter playing Harvey Dent.

Both movies come out next year, with The Batman Part II dropping on October 1st, 2027, while The Hunt for Gollum hits theaters just over two months later, on December 17th.