James Gunn Talks About Batman Casting Rumors and Alan Ritchson’s Chances in the DCU
James Gunn and Peter Safran have been hard at work shaping the new DC Universe, with major characters like Superman, Supergirl, Green Lanterns Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner, along with Hawkgirl, Clayface, Wonder Woman, and Lobo, already on the board. Then, of course, there’s Batman.
Fans haven’t been shy about offering suggestions for who should don the cape and cowl in The Brave and the Bold, and one name that keeps coming up is Reacher star Alan Ritchson.
So what does Gunn think about the idea? He addressed it on a recent episode of Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, and his response left the door open.
When asked if he had started thinking about casting Batman, Gunn replied:
“I am a big Alan Ritchson fan, both as an actor and as a guy. I, let’s just wait and see what happens.”
It’s enough to make you wonder if conversations have already taken place behind the scenes. Of course, that doesn’t mean Ritchson is locked in as Batman, but it doesn’t rule it out either.
Gunn also addressed the challenge of creating a Batman that stands apart from previous iterations, including Matt Reeves’ The Batman with Robert Pattinson:
“Listen, do I ever think about it, sure there’s people out there I think about, but let’s see where the script comes in. It’s not the furthest along thing. I mean we have things that are much much further along.”
So, Batman isn’t at the top of the production schedule just yet, but Gunn made it clear the character is a huge priority for him. In fact, he recently told Rolling Stone:
“Batman’s my biggest issue in all of DC right now, personally. And it’s not — I’m not writing Batman, but I am working with the writer of Batman and trying to get it right, because he’s incredibly important to DC, as is Wonder Woman. So outside of the stuff that I’m doing in the projects that are actively going, our two priorities are finishing our Wonder Woman and our Batman scripts.”
As for Ritchson, he’s well aware of the fan casting and he’s here for it. Speaking to Wired, the actor recalled Gunn’s attempt to shut the speculation down on Twitter:
“What’s amazing to me about this rumor of the Batman desire in the zeitgeist is the fact that James Gunn has personally announced publicly on his Twitter … ‘LOL. He’s not playing Batman’ … and this thing will not die. I get asked every day if I’m playing Batman. Would I play Batman? Yes? You wouldn’t even have to pay me to be Batman. Yeah, I’d don the suit.
For now, the DCU’s Batman remains a mystery, but with Gunn openly admitting that the character is a top priority, expect an official announcement sooner rather than later.
So, what do you think? Should Alan Ritchson take up the mantle of the Dark Knight, or do you have someone else in mind for Gotham’s protector?