5 Actors Who Could Be the Next Batman

The Ben Affleck era is already over and so it’s time to cast yet another actor as my favorite superhero, Batman. The truth is, I wasn’t going to post about this topic. After all, who needs another fanboy with no actual involvement in the project posting his thoughts on casting a movie? Well, then I read some of the mainstream articles and Twitter posts on the topic. Michael B. Jordan of Creed fame? Henry Golding of Crazy Rich Asians? For God’s sake, Robert Pattinson of Twilight?? If writers with more street cred than mine can post such awful suggestions, I feel it’s my duty to offer up some other ideas. So here it goes, five potential actors for the lead in Matt Reeves’ upcoming film, The Batman.

Photo Credit: Doug Inglish

Jake Gyllenhaal

Gyllenhaal is probably the most likely name on my list. He earned his fame with early movies such as Donnie Darko and Brokeback Mountain. Although those were solid performances, and he followed them up with other quality films like Jarhead and Source Code, he didn’t really win me over until 2014’s Nightcrawler. If you haven’t seen that one yet, you’re missing out. Batman may be a hero, but he’s also a rage-filled schizophrenic hiding behind Bruce Wayne’s mask as Gotham’s most famous philanthropic playboy. Nightcrawler proves Gyllenhaal could play the part to a T.

Photo Credit: GQ

Ryan Gosling

Gosling is another well-known actor that’s grown on me over the years. Many of his female fans might know him best for his roles in The Notebook and La La Land, but the movies that won me over are his turns as the nearly silent, brutal killer in Drive, the avenging drug-trafficker in Only God Forgives, and most recently, his leading role in the sci-fi masterpiece, Blade Runner 2049. He may look like the boy next door, but he can play dark and brooding with the best of them.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Ben Barnes

Barnes doesn’t yet have the marquee value of my first two picks, but his current role as Logan on the HBO hit, Westworld may soon change that. He got his big break as Prince Caspian in 2008’s The Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian, but it’s the role of the twisted son who helps mold Westworld’s main antagonist, The Man in Black, where Barnes really shines. He excels as the charming, but morally compromised scion capable of earning your sympathy one minute and your loathing the next.

Photo Credit: WireImage

George Clooney

I know, Clooney already played the Caped Crusader in 1997’s Batman & Robin, a film I dubbed the worst Batman movie ever made back in a 2017 post. That’s precisely why I’m naming him here. Clooney wasn’t the reason that movie sucked so badly. Director Joel Schumacher, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, and most of the supporting cast deserve that blame. If Reeves’ gets it into his head to make a movie about an aging, retired, Batman called back into action one last time, Clooney would be my pick.

Photo Credit: Nino Munoz

Ansel Elgort

Batman has traditionally been played by actors in their 30s, but if director Matt Reeves wants to go younger this time around, he could do a lot worse than 24-year-old Ansel Elgort. Passed over for the lead role in last year’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, Elgort’s still got an impressive resume for such a young man. Perhaps best known for his part in the teen drama, The Fault in Our Stars, my favorite of his roles to date is the lead in Edgar Wright’s stylish heist film, Baby Driver.

So far DC Entertainment hasn’t asked my opinion, but there it is. Take it for what it’s worth. While we’re talking about Batman, I have to plug my Joker fan-fiction “Everything Burns”. Check it out at the link below and if you like it, please share it on social media.

https://www.wattpad.com/454122912

The Best and Worst of Batman

Photo Credit: DC Comics

I’m not much of comic-book movie guy. I still haven’t seen any of the Avengers movies. Or Thor. Or Captain America. Or Suicide Squad. If I could take back the time I spent watching the two Hulk films or the last few Spiderman movies, I would. That said I’m a big fan of Batman. I always have been. A guy that constantly fights his darker impulses and wears a disguise while lashing out violently at the evil men that surround him and threaten those he cares about… yeah, I can relate. When I heard they were making a Lego version of my favorite super hero, I had my doubts but my wife and I took the kids to see The Lego Batman Movie this weekend. While it isn’t as funny as the film it spun off from, 2014’s The Lego Movie, it was definitely entertaining. In fact it was significantly better than several other Batman efforts including last year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.  So just how good is it? I’ve ranked all nine of the big budget Batman film entries below.

Batman & Robin (1997)

Director Joel Schumacher all but destroyed the franchise with this cheesy mess. George Clooney might have been a decent caped crusader in a different film, but pair him with the abysmal Chris O’Donnell as Robin, add a bunch of lame villains including Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, then fill it with vapid dialogue and you’ve got the worst Batman film ever made.

Batman Forever (1995)

Schumacher’s first outing is only slighter better than his second. Val Kilmer is horribly miscast as our hero, both Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones are way too over the top as the bad guys, and the plot is positively insipid even for a comic book movie.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

The faults of this film seem as if they can be laid at the director’s feet as well. Ben Affleck is excellent as our new dark knight, but Zack Snyder gave us a long series of dreary, disturbing scenes without any real plot or continuity to pull them together into a coherent story. I was never sold on the concept in the first place, but this film feels more like a two-and-a-half hour trailer than an actual movie.

Batman Returns (1992)

This is where they get good. Michael Keaton was a great Batman and Michelle Pfeiffer was the perfect foil/love interest as Catwoman. I’m not as enamored with Danny DeVito’s Penguin as some and Christopher Walken was more silly than scary as the evil Max Shreck, but this film remains a solid entry in the series and a nice example of the dark humor director Tim Burton can bring to a good script.

The Lego Batman Movie (2017)

Largely a spoof of the live-action movies in the series, this animated entry hits its marks for being funny, kid-friendly, and yet still an action-packed adventure. Will Arnett gets the gravelly voice just right and Seth Grahame-Smith’s script provides plenty of in-jokes to keep the adult fans of the Batman as entertained as the children.

Batman (1989)

Tim Burton’s Batman debut proved that comic book movies didn’t have to just be for kids. Despite initial fan protest, Keaton nails the dual-personality of Bruce Wayne/Batman and Jack Nicolson’s take on the Joker served as the modern-day benchmark for comic book villains until Heath Ledger came along almost 20 years later.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

A little too long and a little bit of a let-down after its classic predecessor, this film is still a great piece of entertainment. Christian Bale remains the best Batman of them all; Tom Hardy does a menacing Bane, and supporting players Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are great as always.

Batman Begins (2005)

Director Christopher Nolan resurrected Batman after Schumacher nearly destroyed him in the 90s. Gone were the cheesy jokes and nipple-suits. His caped crusader was dark and brooding. His violence wasn’t cartoonish; it was gritty and looked bruising. With a great script and excellent casting, Nolan set a new bar for comic book movies that’s only been surpassed by one film – his sequel.

The Dark Knight (2008)

This is perhaps the best comic book movie ever made. It’s my favorite of the genre by a wide margin. With the best director of the series, the best script of the series, the best Batman of the series, and far and away the best villain of the series, The Dark Knight stands alone. Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker is mesmerizing as his posthumous Oscar for best supporting actor will attest.

5 Tech Titans That Could Be a Real-life Batman

With the massive gulf between the Top 1% of earners and everyone else in the world, I don’t know if we’ve ever had more billionaires. I’m pretty certain we’ve never had more evil scumbags wandering the planet either. This combination makes me wonder why we can’t have our own real-life Batman. No, not Ben Affleck. I mean an uber-rich nutcase with a thirst for justice and fantastic taste in exotic weaponry. I don’t know if any of these men are considering the job, but here are five people I wish would.

Photo Credit: USA Today

Jeff Bezos

The CEO and Founder of Amazon is worth $67.7B according to Forbes. Sure, he looks more like Lex Luthor than Bruce Wayne, but at 52 years old and with a taste for drones, he wouldn’t be a bad choice. On the other hand, he’s probably kind of busy running the world’s biggest online retailer while also dabbling in his Blue Origin space program and newspaper, the Washington Post. 

Photo Credit: Forbes

Mark Zuckerberg

The Co-Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Facebook is still only 32 years old and Forbes says his social network for sharing kids photos and bad political memes has earned him a cool $56.3B. He seems to have an interest in philanthropic causes, but with a wife and new baby to worry about can you picture this Internet geek focusing his efforts on beating up bad guys? Yeah, me neither.

Photo Credit: Charlie Rose

Larry Page

Forbes says the CEO of Google is worth $39B. With his gray hair and dark eyebrows, Page might pass for a George Clooney-era Batman, but honestly, does anyone look back fondly on the 1997 Batman & Robin film? Clooney nearly killed the franchise. Perhaps Larry should just stick with search engines and Lucius Fox-like data collection.

Photo Credit: Salon.com

Sergey Brin

Brin is the Co-Founder of Google and currently runs it’s secretive X division. Single, worth $32.6B and with a penchant for developing gadgets like Google Glass and self-driving cars, Sergey seems like a good fit for the dark cowl and cape. If he ever decides to market a motorcycle like the one in The Dark Knight, I totally want one. 

Photo Credit: theregister.co.uk

Elon Musk

The Co-Founder and CEO of Tesla Motors, Founder and CEO of Space X, Co-Founder and CEO of SolarCity, and visionary of the Hyperloop is worth an estimated $13.3B. This amount might pale in comparison to his peers listed above, but Musk’s résumé speaks for itself. Single, 45, and apparently near-limitless in what he can accomplish, Elon Musk is more often compared to Iron Man, but here he gets my vote for Caped Crusader. Maybe he can squeeze it into his schedule during lunch.