As work continues on The Brave and the Bold, DC fans remain eager for news on who will play the DCU's Caped Crusader. DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has acknowledged that he's struggling to figure out the best tonal approach to the hero, something that's likely not helped by Matt Reeves' plans for The Batman Part II.
However, despite The Brave and the Bold's struggles, it appears the filmmaker has actors falling over themselves to play the Dark Knight. Talking to IGN, Gunn confirmed that several "big actors" have approached him about suiting up as Bruce Wayne.
"Yeah, I mean, the actor who wants to... Listen, first of all, I can’t tell you the amount of big actors that have told me they want to be Batman," he shared. "I think you’d have a harder time finding actors who don’t want to be Batman. He’s the one character everyone wants to play. That’s the truth."
If that's the case, why hasn't he been cast yet? Well, we know that Reacher star Alan Ritchson is among the actors who would like to play Batman; while he'd look great in the cape and cowl, it's harder to imagine him portraying a believable Bruce.
With that in mind, even if Gunn is being approached by countless enthusiastic actors, that doesn't necessarily mean they'd be right to bring the version of Batman he's looking for to life in the DCU.
The filmmaker also spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, and confirmed that he has no intention of redeeming Peacemaker's Chris Smith in the eyes of his fellow Task Force X members from 2021's The Suicide Squad, Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, and Ratcatcher 2.
"No, not really. I don’t [hope to resume that conflict]. People are always asking me about stuff from The Suicide Squad, and The Suicide Squad is a difficult thing because it is not DCU. But there aren’t too many things in it that aren’t [DCU]. Unlike Peacemaker season one — which is completely DCU, besides the ending and one or two mentions of different things — The Suicide Squad brings up more questions than answers."
"Now, I’m not saying that those characters won’t reappear. I’m just saying that I am [already] dealing with Peacemaker’s guilt over killing Rick Flag Jr. and his repercussions for that. And that story is being told through his relationship with Rick Flag Sr. To tell it through Bloodsport, who was friends with Rick Flag Jr., would be an emotionally diminished story compared to the one I’m telling now. So it doesn’t interest me at all."
Many fans had suspected that The Suicide Squad would definitely be DCU canon, but it's clear now that's not necessarily the case. Elements of it clearly are (like Peacemaker killing Rick Flag Jr.), but trying to make it fit into the DCU timeline might be too much of a headache for Gunn.
Let us know your thoughts on the Man of Tomorrow helmer's latest DCU updates in the comments section.