THE BATMAN: Rumors of Jack O’Connell Being Eyed As New Dark Knight Intensify

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Last month, I published a report on potential candidates to star in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. At the time, I highlighted that the studio had internally ordered some digital mock-ups of Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) in the cowl because they wanted to see what he’d look like as the Dark Knight. Their preliminary interest in Harington seemingly ended up being a dead end that was only explored for a brief time, without his camp even being notified that they were thinking about him. Another name I mentioned was Jack O’Connell, and there’s reason to believe that this one is still an active possibility.

Our friend Charles Murphy, over at That Hashtag Show, has just shared a report claiming he’s also heard from a reliable source that O’Connell is on the tip of the studio’s tongue for The Batman. And unlike my report, where I said it was unclear if he was simply a name on an internal Wish List or if he was actually in talks for the role, Murphy claims its entirely possible that both sides have actually met. Tantalizingly, he even teases the possibility that O’Connell met with studio alongside the current holder of the Batman mantle, Ben Affleck. Remember: while rumors have swirled that Affleck is finished with the character, he’s never formally stepped down and will still produce The Batman regardless.

If that’s true, it raises a lot of questions about what O’Connell, Affleck, and the studio had to say to each other that day.

Similar to my story last month, though, Murphy cautions that this should just be considered a rumor at this point, since it’s unclear how the rumored talks went. Heck, he even throws in the possibility that- similar to Noah Centineo– his name may be floating around as a contender for a different role entirely, not necessarily Bruce Wayne himself, but rather another member of the Bat Family.

Still, I figured this was worth sharing because it shows that O’Connell’s name continues to float around, with sources in various circles all hearing there’s serious interest around the idea of enlisting his services for Matt Reeve’s film about the Caped Crusader.

It’s notable, too, in a totally geeky way, that O’Connell bears a resemblance to Scott Snyder’s depiction of Bruce Wayne in Batman: Zero Year– one of several books I’m told Reeves has been lifting elements from as he builds his dream film about The Dark Knight.

Also, one other tidbit for Bat fans to munch on:

Jett, over at Batman-On-Film, dropped this mysterious hint on twitter over the weekend…

Y’all should probably read (or re-read) this. Just sayin’… pic.twitter.com/Y0bU18LWZM

— Bill “Jett” Ramey (@BATMANONFILM) October 7, 2018

He seems to think we’ll want to visit (or revisit) the book/storyline Batman: Ego.

Take that as you will. But it’s definitely an interesting time to be a fan of the Dark Knight. It feels like some major news is on the horizon, and with Reeves recently turning in his first draft of the script for the film, it’s only a matter of time before something major breaks.

As always, I’ll endeavor to find out what’s up as soon as I can, and to bring you whatever I come up with in my travels.

For now, kudos to That Hashtag Show for uncovering that there’s something to Jack O’Connell’s name popping up last month.

SOURCE: That Hashtag Show