Brave and the Bold Casting Thread

[Frodo]

Provided he can pull off a Bob Odenkirk in "Nobody", no one is really able to argue he's stopped looking the part. He was the fancast of Tom King too, who is part of the architect team putting all of this together, and appareantly James Gunn fancasted him as Bond once. He was pseudo-campagining for the role a bit after Affleck left, so this would finally be his chance. He has experience in voice acting as well so... who knows.

He was one of my picks for Batman during the BvS casting , and I still think he'd be a great Batman/ Bruce Wayne.

He's also the right age to have had several proteges by the time Damien comes into his life.

I know he's been fancasted for several roles at this point, but I would be totally stoked if he got the part

 

[Invader Joker]

I don’t think Hamm has any interest in playing action or superhero roles

Jon Hamm Would ‘Love to Play James Bond’ — and ‘Confess, Fletch’ Makes the Case

Maybe 10 years ago he wouldn't but right now I wouldn't be surprised if he ended seeking out the role himself.

 

[Andrew92]

He's the perfect choice

 

[antsman41]

He's the perfect choice

8-12 years ago.

 

[Dark Knight 84]

You all know what to do. Wants, hopes, impossibilities.

Can we please get Scott Adkins cast as Batman!!

 

[Kane52630]

Can we please get Scott Adkins cast as Batman!!

Why dont we wish for Crispin Glover to play the Joker while we're at it?

 

[antsman41]

Paul Bettany for Joker!

[j/k - it's not 2005]

 

[Invader Joker]

He was one of my picks for Batman during the BvS casting , and I still think he'd be a great Batman/ Bruce Wayne.

He's also the right age to have had several proteges by the time Damien comes into his life.

I know he's been fancasted for several roles at this point, but I would be totally stoked if he got the part

He's probably been the most fancast actor as Batman for over a decade now to the point that it's almost comical how mentioned he's been, but even tho he's not the most "inspired" or whatever, the reason he's been mentioned so much by so many different people, including some in the industry is for good reason. Even I who typically prefers casting choices that aren't mega popular feels it's kind of a shame that he'll likely never get to play Batman as I do think he was made for it in a lot of ways. Provided Gunn goes older I can't deny I'd be happier to see him to scratch that itch, but I think I'd still rather have Lee Pace or Fassbender.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Johnny Depp for the Riddler!
Ezra Miller for Robin!
Bryan Singer to direct!

 

[old city outlaw]

He's probably been the most fancast actor as Batman for over a decade now to the point that it's almost comical how mentioned he's been, but even tho he's not the most "inspired" or whatever, the reason he's been mentioned so much by so many different people, including some in the industry is for good reason. Even I who typically prefers casting choices that aren't mega popular feels it's kind of a shame that he'll likely never get to play Batman as I do think he was made for it in a lot of ways. Provided Gunn goes older I can't deny I'd be happier to see him to scratch that itch, but I think I'd still rather have Lee Pace or Fassbender.

Hamm could probably play Kingdom Come Superman for the next 10 years or Kingdom Come Batman / Batman Beyond Bruce Wayne for the next 30+.

 

[TMP98]

Hamm would be good, and looks like a pretty perfect match for an older version of Telltale's Bruce, but i can't really see him taking PEDs for the next decade at this age. Justin Theroux would be a great choice for an over-50 actor, he's already in incredible shape and his performance in The Leftovers feels like a pretty good litmus test for Morrison's more off-beat Batman.

I just can't see them going that old though. Gyllenhaal makes the most sense all things considered, especially given his recent career choices. Him being the lead for strange world means he has experience in voice-acting, and the fact that he's signed on to do a movie based on Liefeld's Prophet for Sam Hargrave kind of nullifies any notions of him seeing a long-term commitment like this as beneath him.

 

[Invader Joker]

Here's a list of the actors in their age ranges from youngest to oldest, along with the age they'd be by the earliest date this could shoot. (Assuming it starts filming in summer 2024, or the start of 2025)
30s
Tom Bateman: March 15, 1989 (34 now) Will be 35-36 when filming.
Sam Claflin: June 27, 1986. (36 now) Will be 38 when filming.
Oliver Jackson Cohen: October 24, 1986. (36 now) Will /probably/ be 38 when filming.
Christopher Abbott: February 1, 1986. (37 now) Will be 38-39 when filming.
Ethan Peck: March 2, 1986 (37 now) Will be 38-39 when filming.
Tom Cullen: July 17, 1985 (37 now) Will be 39 when filming.
Jonathan Groff: March 26, 1985. (37 now) Will be 39-40 when filming.
Theo James: December 16, 1984. (38 now) Will be 39-40 when filming.
40s
Aidan Turner: June 19, 1983. (39 now) Will be 41-42 when filming.
Ed Skrein: March 29, 1983 (39 now) Will be 41-42 when filming.
Brett Dalton: January 7, 1983 (40 now) Will be 41-42 when filming.
Tom Pelphrey: July 28, 1982 (40 now) Will be 42 when filming.
Jamie Dornan: May 1, 1982. (40 now) Will be 42-43 when filming.
Jack Huston: December 7, 1982. (40 now) Will be 42-43 when filming.
Benjamin Walker: June 21, 1982 (40 now) Will be 42-43 when filming.
Dan Stevens: October 10, 1982 (40 now) Will be 41-42 when filming.
Liam McIntyre: February 8, 1982 (41 now) Will be 42-43 when filming.
Ben Barnes: August 20, 1981 (41 now) Will be 42-43 when filming.
Michiel Huisman: July 18, 1981 (41 now) Will be 43 when filming.
Ryan Gosling: November 12, 1980 (42 now) Will be 43-44 when filming.
Sam Heughan: April 30, 1980 (42 now) Will be 44-45 when filming.
Jake Gyllenhaal: December 19, 1980. (42 now) Will be 43-44 when filming.
John Krasinski: October 20, 1979 (43 now) Will be 44-45 when filming.
Luke Evans: April 15, 1979 (43 now) Will be 45-46 when filming.
Lee Pace: March 25, 1979. (43 now) Will be 45-46 when filming.
Wes Bentley: September 4, 1978. (44 now) Will be 45-46 when filming.
James Badge Dale: May 1, 1978 (44 now) Will be 46-47 when filming.
Matthew Goode: April 3,1978 (44 now) Will be 46-47 when filming.
Josh Hartnett: July 21, 1978 (44 now) Will be 46 when filming.
Jensen Ackles: March 1, 1978. (45 now) Will be 46-47 when filming.
Sam Witwer: October 20, 1977 (45 now) Will be 46-47 when filming.
Michael Fassbender: April 2, 1977. (45 now) Will be 47-48 when filming.
Alexander Skarsgard: August 25, 1976 (46 now) Will be 47-48 when filming.
50s
Bradley Cooper: January 5, 1975 (48 now) Will be 49-50 when filming.
Anson Mount: February 25, 1973 (50 now) Will be 51-52 when filming.
Karl Urban: June 7, 1972 (50 now) Will be 52-53 when filming.
Richard Armitage: August 22, 1971 (51 now) Will be 53 when filming.
Justin Theroux: August 10,1971 (51 now) Will be 53 when filming.
Jon Hamm: March 10, 1971 (51 now) Will be 53-54 when filming.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: July 27, 1970 (52 now) Will be 54-55 when filming.
Eric Bana: August 9, 1968 (54 now) Will be 56-57 when filming.
Josh Brolin: February 12, 1968 (55 now) Will be 56-57 when filming.
Guy Pearce: October 5, 1967 (55 now) Will be 56-57 when filming.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan: April 22, 1966 (56 now) Will be 58-59 when filming.

Most likely ones in their 30s In my opinion would be Abbott and Cohen. Provided he can act Tom Bateman, and Tom Cullen. Everyone else has an extremely wrong look for the part for this type of Batman and come across as too similar to Pattinson looks-wise.
Most likely ones in their 40s In my opinion would be Lee Pace, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Dornan, Jensen Ackles. Maybe Huston. Fassbender if they're willing to go older
Most likely ones in their 50s In my opinion would be Bradley Cooper, Josh Brolin and Jon Hamm. Nikolaj and Armitage might surprise too.

Overall I wouldn't be surprised if the screentest shortlist ended up looking something like this: Lee Pace, Oliver Jackson Cohen, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Dornan, Jensen Ackles.
If it came down to 3 I'd say it'd most likely come down to Lee Pace, Gyllenhaal and Ackles.
My top 3 preferred picks would be: Lee Pace, Michael Fassbender and Jake Gyllenhaal in that order.

 

[antsman41]

Hamm would be good, and looks like a pretty perfect match for an older version of Telltale's Bruce, but i can't really see him taking PEDs for the next decade at this age. Justin Theroux would be a great choice for an over-50 actor, he's already in incredible shape and his performance in The Leftovers feels like a pretty good litmus test for Morrison's more off-beat Batman.

I just can't see them going that old though. Gyllenhaal makes the most sense all things considered, especially given his recent career choices. Him being the lead for strange world means he has experience in voice-acting, and the fact that he's signed on to do a movie based on Liefeld's Prophet for Sam Hargrave kind of nullifies any notions of him seeing a long-term commitment like this as beneath him.

...they'll definitely bring the blue trunks back then.

 

[NEXUS 6]

I stand by Theroux and Olyphant (in that order), but would be interested in seeing former Batman Begins finalist/wildly underrated Slevin Kelevra bring things full circle…

 

[Boom]

He'd never do it but he'd be fun.

 

[Invader Joker]

Man now that I think about it I can't help but feel we may be overlooking Bradley Cooper same way people overlooked Ben Affleck 10 years ago.

Bradley Cooper is WB's golden boy. He's had an extraordinarily strong and consistent relationship with them over the past decade and he's given them quite a bit of Oscars. He's extremely connected and respected all across the industry, and he has a ridiculous amount of pull in Hollywood. It's kinda impossible to deny his resume in that sense, so he's someone that Zaslav would probably want.

And while Gunn may care a bit less about that sort of thing (tho granted, now that he's a studio head he also can't overlook how having someone with that amount of clout over the industry would be a massive help for the DCU) the fact of the matter is that he's been collaborating with Cooper as well for a decade now. Not only that, but Cooper plays in the GoTG the character that, in Gunn's words, is the entire heart of that movie and the character he feels the most deeply connected to, so he obviously must think very highly of him as a performer to give him Rocket and probably has a very strong relationship there.

And as interested as Cooper seems to be on awards films and such, he also seems to have some degree of interest in blockbusters and things of that nature; plus he seems like the type of actor that's very mindful about his legacy and reputation in Hollywood, so it's possible he'd want to add "Batman" to the list of things that'd make him remarkable. He's already dipped his toes a bit on the franchise by producing Joker.

The only downside to him is his age, he's 48 and I don't know if they wanna go that old but...

He looks really young for his age. This was taken a few months ago and he can easily still pass for being in his late 30s. He has the same "ageless" quality to him that Paul Rudd or Tom Cruise has, which might work really well for a mature Batman. He seems like the type of guy that in 10 years will still look the same and probably be in pretty good shape. It's not hard to imagine him as being an action star even in his late 50s/early 60s.

He's a highly respected actor, he can definitely voice act, he looks the part, he's highly esteemed by both Gunn and WB. He's the one actor that, even if Gunn ideally has an age range of 35-45 in his mind, Gunn would probably make an exception to and go older if Cooper says he wants the part. The amount of benefits he'd bring to the DCU are too high to ignore.

 

[Frodo]

 

[Sawyer]

Now for a bit of a throwback…


A Morrison-influenced Batman film like this one is probably a more suitable setting for Egghead than Reeves’s world, so I say throw the man a cameo.

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

Bateman's still the best choice IMO, provided that he can affect a reasonably convincing American accent. He's young enough to play a prime Batman (which makes the most sense for a rebooted continuity of this magnitude); but at the same time, can pass for older. I mean, he wouldn't look too out of place as a father/older brother type figure to say, a Jacob Elordi Nightwing.

In terms of physical resemblance to the character, he ticks nearly all the right boxes: tall, dark, brooding, cultured, square-jawed, etc. I can't really speak to the extent of his range and what have you, but I do recall that he can act.



Once upon a time, Hamm would've been a great Batman, but that ship has sailed. And Cooper doesn't have the right look to me — too goofy.

 

[Invader Joker]

Bateman's still the best choice IMO, provided that he can affect a reasonably convincing American accent. He's young enough to play a prime Batman (which makes the most sense for a rebooted continuity of this magnitude); but at the same time, can pass for older. I mean, he wouldn't look too out of place as a father/older brother type figure to say, a Jacob Elordi Nightwing.

In terms of physical resemblance to the character, he ticks nearly all the right boxes: tall, dark, brooding, cultured, square-jawed, etc. I can't really speak to the extent of his range and what have you, but I do recall that he can act.



Once upon a time, Hamm would've been a great Batman, but that ship has sailed. And Cooper doesn't have the right look to me — too goofy.

Visually he's by far and away the best pick on their 30s. If they really want someone in that age range (which again, I think would be a mistake on their part) then if not him they should get someone else that has that sort of really mature look; which would in all honesty I think have to be an unknown because everyone else mentioned in that age range so far visually feels too boyish or wrong for the part one way or another.

It's quite weird how there's a giant lack of actors in that age range that fit those qualities though. 10 years ago in their 30s Fassbender and Pace would've still worked for this type of Batman, hell Jon Hamm was in his mid 30s when he started Mad Men and he'd have worked back then too, but now the majority of actors in their 30s (at least the known ones) just feel really wrong.

The main reason I'm even advocating for this Batman to be older than 40 is mostly because of that, honestly. There are not really that many actors you can look at and say "Yes, this man would work perfectly as a Batman that has at least 3 sons and is the head of the Bat-Family!"; they all feel like they could've screentested for Robert's young Batman and that's not really ideal, so by default all the best and most exciting choices imo are in their 40s.

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

Visually he's by far and away the best pick on their 30s. If they really want someone in that age range (which again, I think would be a mistake on their part) then if not him they should get someone else that has that sort of really mature look; which would in all honesty I think have to be an unknown because everyone else mentioned in that age range so far visually feels too boyish or wrong for the part one way or another.

It's quite weird how there's a giant lack of actors in that age range that fit those qualities though. 10 years ago in their 30s Fassbender and Pace would've still worked for this type of Batman, hell Jon Hamm was in his mid 30s when he started Mad Men and he'd have worked back then too, but now the majority of actors in their 30s (at least the known ones) just feel really wrong.

The main reason I'm even advocating for this Batman to be older than 40 is mostly because of that, honestly. There are not really that many actors you can look at and say "Yes, this man would work perfectly as a Batman that has at least 3 sons and is the head of the Bat-Family!"; they all feel like they could've screentested for Robert's young Batman and that's not really ideal, so by default all the best and most exciting choices imo are in their 40s.

Yeah, if I were to hazard a guess as to why, I'd say it might have something to do with cultural shifts that allow for more inclusivity in terms of physical requirements nowadays. Because perceptions haven't really changed too much.

I don't disagree. But from a purely objective lens, my gut tells me that they're gonna go younger simply because it's a reboot that spans a whopping 10 years. And where rebooted continuities are concerned, main characters are traditionally restored to peak condition. I know these things aren't that cut-and-dried, and there are additional factors to be considered, but that's basically where I'm coming from.

 

[Invader Joker]

Yeah, if I were to hazard a guess as to why, I'd say it might have something to do with cultural shifts that allow for more inclusivity in terms of physical requirements nowadays. Because perceptions haven't really changed too much.

I don't disagree. But from a purely objective lens, my gut tells me that they're gonna go younger simply because it's a reboot that spans a whopping 10 years. And where rebooted continuities are concerned, main characters are traditionally restored to peak condition. I know these things aren't that cut-and-dried, and there are additional factors to be considered, but that's basically where I'm coming from.

If they do decide to go for the 30s age range and are very strict on it, I'm hoping that Gunn just does like a massive wide net casting search until he finds the next Fassbender or Jon Hamm on a complete unknown. I just don't know if such actor even exists though, but maybe he does, and it'd be worth looking into because none of the names mentioned so far really 100% click imo

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

If they do decide to go for the 30s age range, I'm kinda hoping that Gunn just does like a massive wide net casting search until he finds the next Fassbender or Jon Hamm on a complete unknown.

I just wish he'd be a little less vague with respect to Batman's age. That way, we'd have a better idea about what's what.

 

[Invader Joker]

I just wish he'd be a little less vague with respect to Batman's age. That way, we'd have a better idea about what's what.

I kinda feel that he may be keeping his options extremely open.
Wouldn't surprise me if the casting call for this ended up being something really broad like 30-45.

I'm sure ideally he'd maybe prefer someone younger but if he doesn't find anyone that fully convinces him the trade off of going for an older actor like Lee Pace might be worth it compared to the trade off of getting a younger actor that doesn't fit the part.

He already made it sound like he might be keeping the age for Superman very open with how he clarified the only thing he said regarding that was that Superman was "younger than his 40s", so they're probably gonna be looking at anywhere from actors in their early 20s to mid 30s for that. And Batman is in arguably a tougher spot regarding his age so it'd make sense to keep that very broad too.

 

[Boom]