With Matt Reeves currently developing The Batman, there’s now a new rumour on who the Caped Crusader may be butting heads with in that picture.
Previously, it was a given that Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke – who debuted in Justice League’s post-credits scene – was to be the ‘big bad’ of The Batman. That was when Ben Affleck was to direct the movie. Since Affleck stepped away from the director’s chair and Matt Reeves took over directing duties, it seems that all bets are off – including whom the villain of the piece will be.
As per Variety’s Justin Kroll, Reeves’ plans now involve the Penguin being the picture’s main bad guy. This isn’t just Reeves’ decision, for the powers-that-be at Warner Brothers want to bring the Oswald Cobblepot character into the mix sooner rather than later. In fact, if Reeves opts against Penguin as the villain of The Batman, it looks as if The WB will try use the rogue as the central villain of the upcoming Birds of Prey movie that will see Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn potentially joined by the likes of Barbara Gordon, Black Canary, and Catwoman.
Production on that Birds of Prey effort is set to get in the full swing later this year once Robbie gets finished with Quentin Tarantino’s Manson family murders movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
If you remember back, this isn’t the first time that the Penguin has been discussed for Warner’s DC Extended Universe, with Beauty & the Beast’s Josh Gad publicly campaigning to play the character in the DCEU.
But while there is uncertainty over the villain of The Batman, of course there’s still uncertainty over its main attraction: Batfleck. Barely a week goes by where there isn’t some sort of rumbling of Ben Affleck handing over the cape and cowl to someone else, with the most recent rumours on that front suggesting Jon Hamm and Jake Gyllenhaal could be in line to replace Affleck. For what it’s worth though, Gyllenhaal seems to be out of the running at this point, with him distancing himself from those rumours and then now being in advanced talks to play the nefarious Mysterio in the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel.
As ever, expect more on The Batman and all things DCEU as we get it.
