Here Are The Top Actors Who Could Step Into The DCU Batman Role If Christian Bale's Rumored Return Proves To Be Untrue

So that whole DC Universe announcement of movie and TV projects James Gunn made a while back? Well, it turns out that the new Batman movie, titled The Brave and the Bold may actually have Christian Bale reprising his dual role as Bruce Wayne/Gotham's Dark Knight.

The photo above is of three prior Batmen: Val Kilmer, George Clooney and Bale. Pretty easy to guess which one is being referred to. Cue an ecstatic DC fan base who's clamoring for a great, cohesive story!!

Here's the thing. Grace Randolph has amassed quite a YouTube and social media following over the years and it can't be because her stories are 100% false all of the time. However, Gunn himself has said this of Randolph in the past:

Ruh-roh. The Brave and the Bold's storyline is meant to follow an established Batman who discovers he has an assassin nine-year-old son, Damian Wayne, whose mother is Talia al Ghul. She was played briefly by Marion Cotillard in The Dark Knight Rises. Talia is the daughter of notorious Batman nemesis Ra's al Ghul.

SO TAKE THIS REPORT/RUMOR with a grain of salt, please. I only decided to blog about it because it's really blowing up the Twittersphere and it's too juicy to pass up. 

Rather than commenting too much more on that because I doubt the rumor's merits, I thought this would be a good time to rank new Batman actors. Based on the storyline The Brave and the Bold is expected to follow, you have to go upper 30s to early 50s. We've got some expected contenders and interesting dark horses you'd not think of at first.

10. Christian Bale 

Bale gets an honorary inclusion. I guess this would be cool, but I liked the way his story ended. If he does return, it'd be nice to see him as some sort of Marvel-esque "variant" and not quite the Christopher Nolan take on the character. The way Batman is done in the Dark Knight trilogy doesn't really align with a world that'll feature Superman and the Green Lantern Corps among other "Gods and Monsters" as Chapter 1 of Gunn's slate is titled.

9. Wes Bentley  

A really solid actor who's worked on big movies like American Beauty, The Hunger Games, Interstellar and Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Lately he's made his mark on the small screen in Yellowstone. Seems like a logical time for Bentley to make the leap if he wants to since the word is Yellowstone is ending after its fifth season. Bentley is sort of like Michael Keaton where you look at him and you're like, "Oh yeah, he seems like he might actually secretly be Batman." Not the splashiest casting but I think Bentley would crush. 

8. Ethan Hawke 

I could see Hawke maybe being too far on the older side by the time The Brave and the Bold rolls cameras, but it depends which direction they take the story in. If it's more about a Batman who's not quite moving like he used to, I'd love to see Hawke and his often razor-sharp dialogue anchor the story, and how he'd break Damian Wayne's brain with his crime-solving/crimefighting genius.

7. Charlie Hunnam

Some grittier turns have defined Hunnam's career, namely in Sons of Anarchy, King Arthur and hell even The Lost City of Z had to be a killer-ass shoot. A little on the younger side for the role, Hunnam nevertheless has plenty of action experience, and showed a ton of charisma in Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen that lends well to Bruce Wayne. He's quite funny in that, which I imagine only helps his Batman cause.

6. John Cho

This would be such an interesting direction to take the character. I started watching the live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop on Netflix to see how Cho carried that show, and while everyone blasted it for not living up to the anime series, I don't think that was Cho's fault. Dude worked his ass off to play the lead role of Spike Spiegel and was channeling some Bruce Lee energy in fight scenes. He even blew out his knee during filming. Cho would be a fantastic Batman, even if he's not an obvious choice.

5. Seann William Scott 

WILD CARD ALERT. I can see it now: STIFLER PLAYING BATMAN WTF!? Hear me out: Seann William Scott has legit dramatic chops. I saw it in Goon, which by the way, was a lot of hand-to-hand combat on a hockey rink. Scott plays an enforcer whose main job is to fuck up the opponents with huge hits and fights. Brawler Batman. Hell yeah. ALSO: Scott has an excellent, hilarious movie where he mentors a young kid, Role Models. Tell me you don't see it. Scott's comedy-heavy background meshes well with Gunn's sensibilities as well.

4. Michael Fassbender

Multiple badass cowboy/law enforcement type of roles where he takes justice into his own hands? Check. Tons of blockbuster movie experience? Check. Since his X-Men tenure as Magneto ended with a thud and Assassin's Creed didn't work out, I'd be down to see Michael Fassbender step into the DCU.

3. Sam Rockwell

Has experience on the Marvel side with Iron Man 2 as the villainous Justin Hammer. That was a long time ago. Since then, all Sam Rockwell has done is win a freaking Oscar for Two Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The reason Rockwell popped to mind for me was his supporting turn in a film titled The Way Way Back where he runs a water park and hilariously mentors the lead character in the coming-of-age story. Rockwell would be my top choice if "box office draw" calculus wasn't baked in a little. 

2. Bradley Cooper 

I'm not sure he'd be all that interested in the role, but Bradley Cooper as Batman? He's tight with Warner Bros. as far as I can deduce, the studio where he made his directorial debut with A Star Is Born. Cooper also served as a producer on Joker. He may be more interested in writing/directing gigs going forward, but this could be a nice change-up for him. Big Bruce Wayne vibes in this Limitless clip.

1. Ryan Gosling

Along with Cooper, Ryan Gosling is the clear box-office draw on this list. He was offered the Joker role for Suicide Squad before Jared Leto signed on. A lot of Batman actors you could see playing either/or. I'd love to see Gosling's take on the Clown Prince of Crime, yet his Batman would be freaking amazing, too. Just thinking of him in The Nice Guys interacting with his daughter has me cracking up. Oh the things Gosling could do with his comedic chops opposite a Damian Wayne type. With Gosling being is in the Blade Runner universe, I can't help but flash forward and fantasize about him 20 years down the line playing Old Man Bruce in a definitive Batman Beyond adaptation.

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Check out the latest episode of My Mom's Basement where I joined Robbie and Clem to discuss the Ant-Man trilogy! Some DC tidbits scatted about in there.