A new rumor suggests that Jake Gyllenhaal may be in contention for the role of Batman if Ben Affleck steps down from the role. Conflicting reports about Affleck’s future as the Caped Crusader have been doing its rounds this week, ahead of the theatrical release of Justice League. However, an official decision on his matter has yet to be made public.
While Affleck has indicated that he is uncertain about his future as Batman, he said that he is “contemplating” starring in The Batman, aka the solo Batman movie which Matt Reeves has been attached to direct. John Campea broke the rumor that Reeves has a replacement Batman actor in mind for the DC Comics adaptation. Campea reports that Gyllenhaal is Reeves’ top pick to play the role of the Dark Knight from Affleck in The Batman. Although the rumor must be taken with a pinch of salt, it may not be too far-fetched. Rob Keyes heard Gyllenhaal had a meeting with Reeves and had teased this on social media early this morning.
When Christopher Nolan was casting Batman Begins, Gyllenhaal had auditioned for this role. Although Nolan cast Christian Bale to play Bruce Wayne instead, Gyllenhaal’s sister Maggie appeared in the sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight. Jake Gyllenhaal was in contention to play Spider-Man as well, potentially as a Tobey Maguire replacement, so the desire to play a superhero is documented at this stage.
Gyllenhaal has proven himself to be a talented performer over the years and he should be able to handle this role. The question is whether the casting will reboot the character. Though superhero movies have recast roles within franchises without resetting the narrative, the shared DCU has not done that. At 36 years old, Jake Gyllenhaal will have a hard time matching the grizzled take on Batman that Affleck has delivered.
Nothing has been set in stone yet. It is possible that Affleck will be the one to play the Caped Crusader in Reeves’ DC movie or that The Batman will recast the title role with someone like Jake Gyllenhaal, as a way of rebooting the franchise. There is a third option: that Ben Affleck will return as Bruce Wayne in The Batman and pass his cape/cowl down to another character. Until any further notice, any prediction on the matter is a fair game.
