One of the biggest stories out of SDCC ’13 to my mind was the announcement that DC and Warner Brothers were finally ready to team their two biggest properties in one movie, all the better to transition to the inevitable Justice League film. The biggest wrench in the works seems to be casting, in that Henry Cavill is expected to return as the Man Of Steel, but Christian Bale seems to be done with The Dark Knight. As with any vacant superhero role, fan speculation on who would be perfect for the role has already begun, with internet trolls already sharpening their metaphorical claws in preparation of telling others how their picks are stupid. (Stupid or not, I stand by my pick and think Stacy Kiebler will also look good in a Bruce-Wayne-style tuxedo. Admittedly, it might change the dynamic, but she’d at least make things interesting.)
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) reminds you that Man-Man has all the powers of a man… but he’s a MAN, asking: Who would you choose to replace Christian Bale beneath the iconic pointy cowl of The Batman?
33 Comments
Good thing Ryan Reynolds is Green Lantern or someone would have stuck him in there. To be honest I don’t know that many of the current action heroes out there to know which one would do the role of the slick millionaire Bruce Wayne and The Dark Knight justice as well as Bale managed to.
Kinda glad that Nightwing will be Doctor Strange now…
And what about Joel McHale ?
I don’t care who it is, as long as they don’t bring back the Bat-voice.
Amen
ditto,i think Bale was an awful Batman.
Daniel Day Lewis has the emotional breadth to solidly play the Batman and not upstage whoever plays Superman. He has the physicality for the role and has played a number of dark characters in the past. Whether he’ll jump at the chance to play a comic book hero with so must casting background is another matter.
They could just keep Batman in costume the entire time. Then it doesn’t need to be some big name face.
I’d be ok with an unknown or an off-the-wall choice ala Michael Keaton.
I’m not really up on my current actors who aren’t pudgy comedians, so I’m not sure.
My all-time favorite interpretation of Batman/Bruce Wayne is Batman: The Animated series. It made Bruce into more than just an aloof playboy and had one of the best mixtures of the detective/punchie punchie before or since. Based on that interpretation, I would have chosen George Clooney. Since he messed that one up, I have no idea. It completely depends on how they want to portray Batman in my mind.
I actually thought Clooney did pretty good. It was just the script and director that were horrible.
Agreed. I should have been more specific on my bashing. Because that movie is so reviled, no one will give him another chance.
If they wanted to keep the Dark Knight Trilogy as canon, I would probably say Joseph Gordon Leavitt. He doesn’t really look the part, but Bats wasn’t always Bruce in the comics. Wouldn’t it be a kick in the head if in the Justice League movie Batman was not Bruce Wayne?
Give a Nightwing movie, and we’ll think about it.
I’m really bad at fancasting, mostly because I don’t know or remember that many actors. But here goes anyway…
I don’t think they should keep Joseph Gordon Levitt. As cool as the idea of the mantle being passed on is, it would be confusing to the average movie-goer not to have Bruce Wayne under the cowl. Plus I don’t think Levitt could quite stand up to Henry Cavill in terms of physical or acting presence. He’s a good actor, but he’s not really imposing.
With the Dark Knight Returns being claimed as an influence, I’m very afraid we’re going to get a grimdark, very violent attempt at deconstruction, in the line of Man of Steel, and that it’s going to be Batman being awesome and outsmarting Superman then beating him into the pavement.
I’d much rather see them become friends and allies, who complete each other because they’re so different. So I hope they will get a Batman who can be intimidating and badass, but also reasonable and soft. IMHO, Batman has to be balanced between severity and hope, and I kinda hope Superman will bring out that side of the character. Especially since Man of Steel could have used about 500% more hope and optimism.
I would really, really love for them to be brave enough to choose Idris Elba.
That would be Bat-tastic.
people cant handle a black Nick Fury,the earth would stop if they made Batman black.
Where I live, it is actually illegal to not choose an actor because of color.
Understand the reason for that … but if they’re playing a character who is iconically white? Tarzan (English Lord), Dracula, Abraham Lincoln? Or the reverse: a white Kunta Kinte, British Zorro, Hispanic Charlie Chan?
wait, a group of nerds have spoken, and noone have mentioned Nathan Filion yet?
Shocked, i is it!
That aside, i know that after firefly he is suggested into all genre-fiction, but honestly, i’d love him as a mid 40’s Bruce Wayne.
The charm and smugness he can deliver would be great for Bruce.
Dunno that he could pull off Batman with the intensity of Christian Bale, but maybe a Batman who is just quietly scary and emotionately repressed the way i love him from the comic? Yes, yes he could do that.
Make it so!
That’s something I’d never thought about, but you’re right, I can see that being really good. It would entirely depend on how grim and dark the movie was going to be though. There are certain levels of grim and dark that I don’t think Filion is capable of descending to.
Did you see him as Caleb on Buffy?
This makes me think, what if you split up the actors for Bruce Wayne and Batman?
Keep them similar builds but Batman buffer and gruffer.
Karl Urban he does a better Batman voice in Dredd then Bale ever did/will do.
ME.
John Hamm could be good?!
I could see John Hamm as Bruce Wayne, but I’m not sure if I’d buy him doing the Batman side of things.
Why do we assume that Bruce Wayne will play a large part in a crossover film?
That’s true, Bruce Wayne could not really appear at all
Rather than casting a famous actor in the role, they need to cast the role by who has the proper physique. Batman is a martial artist who is active each and every night – he would have a build that would make Arnie or Sly look like pantywaists! One of the problem nearly every Superman movie and TV show has had, except for Man of Steel, and nearly all the earlier portrayals of Batman had is that they cast either some milktoast in the role (really? Michael Keaton as Batman? Give me a break!) or they mistake somebody extra beefy (Adam West or George Reeve) for somebody who is physically fit. In his younger days, Arnold Schwarzenegger had the right built to play either Batman or Superman, but, because of the accent, they would have had to dub in some other accent’s voice. Chris Evans has the build, he could be a Batman if he could lose the boyish charm.
Batman is also an acrobat, I’d say that a musclebound physique wouldn’t be appropriate. Perhaps more of a Bruce Lee figure?
The recent spate of movies seem to have given up the acrobat (and detective) in favor of an armored one who usually appears in some sort of armored vehicle
Richard_Ayoade – unless they pick him to play the 12th Doctor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJMr-mLjL1s