BATMAN: You’ll Never Guess Who WB Was Making Inquiries About Earlier This Year

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Sometimes, when a studio is considering an actor for a role in a property known for its iconic imagery, they ask for some visual assistance during the process. It’s not at all uncommon for the studio to request a digital mock-up of an actor in a particular costume- especially if that actor is busy on another project at the moment and unable to come in and model it themselves, or if they currently have hair and facial hair for another project that clashes with how they’d look in the project they’re currently being considered for.

A couple of months back, Warner Bros. requested digital mock-ups of a pair of actors who were seemingly in contention for the title role in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, and while both have been brought to my attention, I’m only going to reveal one today. Reason being I still have lingering questions about one of them, so until those get answered, I’m going to hold onto it (yes, listeners of The Fanboy Podcast, it’s the “third man” I mentioned on Friday’s show).

Before I reveal it, I want to note that there’s no reason to believe this went anywhere. It may have, and it may not have. Regardless, I find these things interesting because they reveal the thought process behind who/what they’re looking for, and this one in particular shows that Reeves seems to have a type in mind.

Why do I say that? Because two other actors I know he’s spoken to about playing Batman have the same general build and look. We’re talking about Jake Gyllenhaal and Jack Huston.

Now let’s add another name to the list of folks who’ve apparently danced with the Dark Knight by the pale moonlight:

Kit Harington.

Yup, in June Warner Bros. was keen to see what he’d look like in a Batman suit so they requested some digital mock-ups of the Game of Thrones star as The Caped Crusader.

As mentioned earlier on, my source on this has no idea if that was the end of it (or the start of it). It’s just something interesting that happened, and I thought my fellow news-starved DC fans would find this noteworthy.

Harrington is 5’8, which puts him in the same range as Gyllenhaal and Huston, with all three actors being between 5’8 and 6′- once again demonstrating that Reeves isn’t hung up on casting a big guy for Batman. Also notable here is that Harrington, unlike those other two, is far closer to the age I hear Bruce Wayne will be in the movie. If you’ll recall, in my last significant update on The Batman– which Matt Reeves would go on to confirm most of a week later- I shared that they’re looking for someone to play a Batsy who’s between 25 and 30 years of age. Harington is 31.

On last Friday’s episode of The Fanboy Podcast, I mentioned two other actors I’ve heard in connection to The Batman. They’re Jack O’Connell and Noah Centineo. But with those two, it’s unclear why their names are currently being spoken in the same breath as this film by casting people in Hollywood right now. I don’t know if it’s because the studio wants them, or because their agents are campaigning for them to read for the role, or if they’re up for different, supporting roles in the film. The details with them are vague, at best. But they’re also both 5’8″ and 6’1, respectively.

Meanwhile, what’s interesting about the other actor- the one I’m not comfortable sharing just yet- is that he’s far closer to the Affleck mold than any of these other names I’ve heard. Because of that, I think he may end up being the actual frontrunner- which is why I don’t want to run it until I’m absolutely positive. Please pardon my hesitance here, but this would be the biggest story of my career. Yes, even bigger than breaking the story about how the studio was extensively overhauling Justice League last May. So I’ve got to be careful.

For now, just ruminate on the fact that the studio was kicking around the idea of Harington as Batman.

What do you think? Are you hoping something came of that? Or will you be relieved if we find out that it’s just a dead end they pursued for a bit?

Discuss.