Brave and the Bold Casting Thread

[Invader Joker]

I get what you're saying but this is to an extent a work for hire project. There is presumably a base line concept for this movie and I do not buy for a second that part of the appeal for Gunn about this choice of material is not the inherent comedic value of a grouchy child murdering people with a katana while his Batdad shouts at him to stop murdering people with a katana. I think Muschietti was chosen because he was, in their minds, suited to that because of the mix of classic superhero stuff and weird gross comedy in The Flash.

There's a big difference between there never having been a good Superman movie inspired by post-crisis comics and this. Tbh, I think that sort of archetypal Batman could very easily just come off as vanilla - the big thing this movie has going for it in terms of maybe being something special is less that and more the Bat Family. Another thing to consider is that, in my opinion, the GAs idea of of the quintessential Batman is first and foremost The Dark Knight Trilogy - what excites them and gets them interested is stuff that evokes it, like Joker and The Batman.

It could only be vanilla if it's badly cast, badly directed and badly written; which I don't think it has to be. I am of the mindset that the archetypical take on Batman remains and is the most interesting one, it's after all the foundation of every single one of the adaptations we've had so far, but which have mostly just taken one or two elements from it for their incarnations.

And yeah, I agree the GAs idea of a quintissential Batman is the TDK Trilogy... which is precisely why a Batman that is like the one from the comics would probably come as a surprise for them.

In regards to the whole comedic thing, idk. Even if they go for a comedic take you don't need to actually hire a comedian to play that. The whole humor that comes from Batman comes from the fact that he's so humorless and doesn't see the comedy in any of what he's doing and takes everything deadly serious. Even Adam West said that. The way to play a funny Batman is to not even play the comedy so I'm not sure what getting a comedian would bring. And the versions of Batman Gunn likes are mega serious and edgy anyway so even if the movie is comedic, Batman himself probably won't be.

 

[NEXUS 6]

to the above couple of posts, I think what is a very real factor with thinking about this iteration is that it will need to differentiate itself from Reeves’ version, and outside of age the other way to do that is to allow it to be a bit more off kilter and comedic. That’s one of the reasons I like Theroux for this (and previously suggested Tim Olyphant and Rupert Friend as other actors who can excel within the slightly weird tone that I’d expect here.

That’s making me think of another actor whose really a less-than zero possibility, but does give a template of the checkboxes I hope there looking to check off…

 

[Invader Joker]

to the above couple of posts, I think what is a very real factor with thinking about this iteration is that it will need to differentiate itself from Reeves’ version, and outside of age the other way to do that is to allow it to be a bit more off kilter and comedic. That’s one of the reasons I like Theroux for this (and previously suggested Tim Olyphant and Rupert Friend as other actors who can excel within the slightly weird tone that I’d expect here.

It'll already be different enough by virtue of being an older Batman that exists in a world of metahumans and has an entire Bat-Family. Batman doesn't need to be a joke in this; he can stay serious and edgy (which again, is the portrayal he has in the comics that Gunn has as his favorite Batman comics, including the Grant Morrison run) if everything surrounding him is different. And again, comedic Batman works when you have an actor that plays it serious anyway. It has less to do with the actor and more with everything surrounding it.

If they overplay their hand and make Batman a complete joke in this I think that's just begging for this movie to flop.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

It could only be vanilla if it's badly cast, badly directed and badly written; which I don't think it has to be. I am of the mindset that the archetypical take on Batman remains and is the most interesting one, it's after all the foundation of every single one of the adaptations we've had so far, but which have mostly just taken one or two elements from it for their incarnations.

And yeah, I agree the GAs idea of a quintissential Batman is the TDK Trilogy... which is precisely why a Batman that is like the one from the comics would probably come as a surprise for them.

In regards to the whole comedic thing, idk. Even if they go for a comedic take you don't need to actually hire a comedian to play that. The whole humor that comes from Batman comes from the fact that he's so humorless and doesn't see the comedy in any of what he's doing and takes everything deadly serious. Even Adam West said that. The way to play a funny Batman is to not even play the comedy so I'm not sure what getting a comedian would bring. And the versions of Batman Gunn likes are mega serious and edgy anyway so even if the movie is comedic, Batman himself probably won't be.

Oh for sure, there's a great quote from Pattinson where he says what makes Batman funny is a total lack of self-awareness of even the possibility he could be being funny. I'm not saying get a comedian to play him in fully wacky comedy mode, I just feel like there is a particular unique energy you could get from that sort of casting. Also not sure where you're getting that Gunn's taste in Batman leans mega serious and edgy, what has he talked about being a fan of with the character other than not liking the 90s movies or Batman Begins and being a fan of the Grant Morrison stuff? The Morrison stuff has some real dark **** in it but calling it mega serious and edgy isn't all that apt.

I do think the fact we're talking so much about Gunn's taste and preferences is a big problem with this movie to begin with seeing as he is not and will not be directing it. Like, it makes sense because it'll either be Muschietti or some other journeyman team player but it still sucks. Big fan of Gunn (though I wish he was focusing on doing more idiosyncratic, personal, weird things like a second season of Peacemaker rather than showrunning a probably DOA shared universe), but that doesn't make it any less lame.

 

[Invader Joker]

Oh for sure, there's a great quote from Pattinson where he says what makes Batman funny is a total lack of self-awareness of even the possibility he could be being funny. I'm not saying get a comedian to play him in fully wacky comedy mode, I just feel like there is a particular unique energy you could get from that sort of casting. Also not sure where you're getting that Gunn's taste in Batman leans mega serious and edgy, what has he talked about being a fan of with the character other than not liking the 90s movies or Batman Begins and being a fan of the Grant Morrison stuff? The Morrison stuff has some real dark **** in it but calling it mega serious and edgy isn't all that apt.

I do think the fact we're talking so much about Gunn's taste and preferences is a big problem with this movie to begin with seeing as he is not and will not be directing it. Like, it makes sense because it'll either be Muschietti or some other journeyman team player but it still sucks. Big fan of Gunn (though I wish he was focusing on doing more idiosyncratic, personal, weird things like a second season of Peacemaker rather than showrunning a probably DOA shared universe), but that doesn't make it any less lame.

There was a separate Facebook post where he listed The Dark Knight Returns as one of his favorite Batman comics as well:



Director James Gunn wants to surprise you with 'Super,' his twisted take on a superhero
While Gunn’s movies might lack that mainstream appeal, his choice of favorite superhero is more garden-variety: Batman.

“It’s a boring answer, I know,” Gunn said, “but Batman has the most good comics book of any superhero and I just like the character. I like Batman’s tragic nature. I like the fact that he was a guy whose parents were killed, and he’s trying forever to avenge their deaths and he can’t.”

For what it's worth, before the Batman came out he also said very recently that TDK was his favorite Batman movie, including above all animated ones:




I do not get the sense he's just gonna go out of his way to make Batman a joke based on his tastes and the fact he said that one of his favorite things about the character was the tragedy of him. Hell, one of his 89 criticisms was that it was too campy.

Also you can make an argument that the Morrison run itself has a really bizarre self-awareness to it but at the same time there is literally no way to deny that the Batman character Morrison wrote is himself pretty dark, serious and edgy.

 

[C Prometheus]

Because it’s relatively easy to fake and I legit cannot imagine giving a damn about this. Michael Keaton is like 5,9 and his screen presence was vastly more intimidating than Ben Affleck who is roughly six million feet tall.

It’s cool that Rob for instance is so tall and they really emphasize it with how he’s framed and the boots which make him even taller but I just… it’s so superficial and irrelevant. You can make someone Theroux’s height look at least six feet tall, they made ninety six movies making RDJ look roughly par with very tall men. It’s a normal movie thing.

Yeah, I've said for years now that I'd be far more afraid to see Keaton's Batman in a dark corner at night than I would Affleck's. IMO Affleck's Batman was scary in the sense that he was visibly a giant mountain of muscle, but Keaton always had more of a supernatural or alien vibe to him thanks to how he leaned into the limitations of his Batsuits to create a unique body language for Batman.

 

[darkdefective]

Still firmly in the Theroux camp and personally only really interested in a second version of Batman that differentiates from Reeves’ version via a Batman that’s late 40s at the youngest. Hartnett and Pace are both also interesting to me, but that’s sort of as young as I can see Bat-dad working. I know that’s probably not a widely held preference so this suggestion might get flamed, but would anybody else like to see an Eric Bana comeback?

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He’s same as age as Miller’s Batman in The Dark Knight Returns, he would be a cool option. Unfortunately I don’t see them going that old for DCU, even if I think they may replace Bruce with Dick eventually

 

[darkdefective]

He’s same as age as Miller’s Batman in The Dark Knight Returns, he would be a cool option. Unfortunately I don’t see them going that old for DCU, even if I think they may replace Bruce with Dick eventually

If it were ever possible for a DC elseworlds one off, without mega over saturation, I would love to see a 50-60 year old Batman.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

He’s same as age as Miller’s Batman in The Dark Knight Returns, he would be a cool option. Unfortunately I don’t see them going that old for DCU, even if I think they may replace Bruce with Dick eventually

God, how much more exciting would this movie be if it either had Dick as Batman or was the start of the story of him becoming Batman?

 

[Invader Joker]

How about Jonathan Bailey? Feels surprising how little he's been mentioned. He's 35 but has enough of a mature look to him I could easily buy him as a patriarch Batman, his career seems to be on the rise and bound to break big at any moment, seems to be a good actor. I could see him being a likely contender for this.

 

[Invader Joker]

 

[flickchick85]

If Gunn does have an issue with height then that will probably rule him out. I ain’t against it though. He’s a good actor with proven brooding abilities lol.

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

I could be wrong, but my gut tells me that Gunn will want someone a little more well-known for the part (especially if this Bruce is gonna be on the older side).

 

[Invader Joker]

I could be wrong, but my gut tells me that Gunn will want someone a little more well-known for the part (especially if this Bruce is gonna be on the older side).

Bailey gained a lot of popularity because of Bridgerton, he has 3.4 million followers on Insta, so I think he fits the bill well enough. I'm mentioning him mostly if they reaaally want someone under 40 for the part though. There's not really that many good candidates there as we've talked about previously, and well-known ones even fewer.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

I could be wrong, but my gut tells me that Gunn will want someone a little more well-known for the part (especially if this Bruce is gonna be on the older side).

They'll probably want but the chances of a big name signing up the kind of contract they'll ask their Batman to sign and commit to such a long term project aren't all that great.

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

Bailey gained a lot of popularity because of Bridgerton, he has 3.4 million followers on Insta, so I think he fits the bill well enough. I'm mentioning him mostly if they reaaally want someone under 40 for the part though. There's not really that many good candidates there as we've talked about previously, and well-known ones even fewer.

How do you feel about Sam Reid? He's not particularly tall, but what he lacks in height (by superhero standards, anyway), he more than makes up for in depth and charisma. Excellent, excellent actor. Good jaw on him to boot.

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

They'll probably want but the chances of a big name signing up the kind of contract they'll ask their Batman to sign and commit to such a long term project aren't all that great.

It won't be easy, no doubt, but I suspect they'll do everything they can to sweeten the deal.

 

[Boom]

 

[Invader Joker]

How do you feel about Sam Reid? He's not particularly tall, but what he lacks in height (by superhero standards, anyway), he more than makes up for in depth and charisma. Excellent, excellent actor. Good jaw on him to boot.

He's just right below my height limit but he's got a good look which is again more than I can say for most of these 30 something actors. Haven't seen his acting but heard great things about his Lestat, which intrigues me.

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

He's just right below my height limit but he's got a good look which is again more than I can say for most of these 30 something actors. Haven't seen his acting but heard great things about his Lestat, which intrigues me.

Yeah, you definitely need to get on that, ASAP. His Lestat is literally the best part of Interview (which is currently bundled with Max, along w/ a few other AMC+ shows). Cruise's turn as the character pales by comparison.

 

[flickchick85]

I’d prefer Bailey over Reid, but either would be good, imo. Not feeling Sam Heughan though. Good actor, just…not Bruce Wayne to me. And yes, I know he played the role in some stage show a while back.

 

[Invader Joker]

I’d prefer Bailey over Reid, but either would be good, imo. Not feeling Sam Heughan though. Good actor, just…not Bruce Wayne to me. And yes, I know he played the role in some stage show a while back.

I watched clips of his performance in that and gotta be honest really not impressed lol I know it's just a stage show but man if it's anything to how he'd actually play the character not into it at all

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

Heughan sort of reminds of me of Mikel Janin's Bruce Wayne; he's very comic-booky looking if that makes any sense. But I just get the feeling that he'd be borderline boring in the role.

 

[flickchick85]

I watched clips of his performance in that and gotta be honest really not impressed lol I know it's just a stage show but man if it's anything to how he'd actually play the character not into it at all

To be fair to the guy, I am 98% sure that show was in no way how he would play the role in a movie, so I wouldn’t be worried about that. There’s just something intensely not Bruce Wayne about him to me lol.

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

Pace and Peck are still the ones to beat, IMO.