It seems we’re set for big news over the coming weeks for Matt Reeves’ The Batman as just late last night two massive names have dropped into he casting well.
First up, it looks like Gotham has a new James Gordon as Westworld and James Bond star Jeffrey Wright is apparently all bt confirmed for the role to star opposite Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne/Batman.
It’s not known, given how this is set in the 1990s, if Gordon will be at the Commissioner or detective stage in his career.
Gordon is arguably the most important character in the Batman mythos who, until Gary Oldman played him in the Nolan trilogy, was never given his fully dues in the movies… Gordon is the one responsible for Batman’s operating in Gotham, it’s as simple as that.
Of course, in recent years Gordon has been played by JK Simmons briefly in Justice League, so this raises the question if Reeves Batman, as the director previously said in 2017: “Just to be clear: Of COURSE Batman will be part of the D.C. Universe. Batman will be BATMAN. In my comments from a while back about not being part of the DCEU, I was talking about The Batman being a story specifically about Batman… not about the others in the Universe. That it wouldn’t be filled with cameos servicing other stories — that it would be a BATMAN story.”
Now, I’m always afraid of being un-PC with this stuff, but, well, Wright is a black actor, while Simmons – the DCEU’s previous Gordon – is white.
So is it still the same world?
Well, there’s not really a reason why it isn’t… Wright has, in the past, played Felix Leiter in the 007 movies, a character who, until his casting, was always white, but those movies, although a little blurry, are all the same universe.
And Warners and Batman is no stranger to this, with the great Billy Dee Williams portraying Harvey Dent in the 1989 Batman, only to be replaced by Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever a few years later – and again, same universe (we chatted to Billy Dee about this a number of years ago (here).
Or… maybe – and I find this most likely as Birds of Prey, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman 2 etc are all set in the DCEU – they are just hoping to forget about Justice League altogether.
Wright is a superb actor and I look forward to seeing what he does with one of my favourite Batman Characters (next to Ras Al Ghul, fact-fans)… i just wish it wasn’t so confusing!
UPDATE: He’s been confirmed as cast now:
Tweet! #Gordon 🦇 pic.twitter.com/O4PBX7MmuH
— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) October 30, 2019
Anyway, next up is actor Jonah Hill who is set to play a ‘secret’ villain in the movie.
Now, if reports are to be believed, ‘secret’ means they aren’t sure who yet. And by they, I mean Warners AND Hill.
Word is the studio and the actor are interested on playing both Penguin and Riddler in the movie.
That’s all I have for you at the minute, folks.
Let me know your thoughts
The Batman is set for a June 25th, 2021, release.
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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