Things have been pretty quiet as far as casting for Matt Reeves' upcoming reboot The Batman, with the only confirmed cast member being Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne himself. Now after months of rumors and speculation, we finally have two names we can add to that list; Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) and Jonah Hill (Wolf of Wallstreet). Wright will be taking over the role of Jim Gordon, the commissioner of the Gotham Police Department who works closely with Batman. Hill's role is still under wraps, but rumors have suggested the actor will probably be playing the classic Batman villain The Riddler.
Wright's casting as the new Commissioner Gordon confirms that Reeves' version of Batman will have no connection to the previous Ben Affleck one. Some rumors had circulated that The Batman could be a prequel to Affleck's DCEU caped crusader, but its pretty clear Wright is not playing a younger version of J.K. Simmons' Gordon from Justice League. Simmons casting was one of the most heavily praised of the DCEU, so it'll be a shame to see him go after only one portrayal of the character. Wright has many credits to his name including roles in Source Code, Casino Royale, Westworld, and Boardwalk Empire, with a recent gig ironically in the MCU as the voice of The Watcher in the upcoming What If? series on Disney Plus.
Prior to Wright's casting there were rumors that Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained), and Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) were up for a role in the movie, with the assumption being it was also for Gordon. Ali of course has taken on the role of Blade for Marvel, while Esposito has also recently been rumored to join the MCU in a mystery role. Its unknown how important Commissioner Gordon will be to the plot of The Batman, but its likely he'll be pretty key given that he's the second casting announcement. Gordon is just one of many well known supporting characters in the Batman universe including Robin, Lucius Fox, and of course Alfred, all of whom have yet to be cast or confirmed to be appearing in the movie at all.
As for Jonah Hill's casting, the actor is reportedly still in negotiations over his salary for the part and things could still fall through. He had been rumored to be in the running to star in the movie months ago, but this is the first official confirmation of his involvement. While early fan speculation was that he would be playing The Penguin, a character rumored to be the movie's main villain, Collider's Jeff Sneider reports he's actually in talks to play The Riddler. Riddler was also rumored to be a part of the movies plot which will apparently feature many members of Batman's rogues gallery. Riddler was brought to the big screen by Jim Carrey in Batman Forever, but hasn't been in a Batman film since, despite several rumors of him appearing during Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.
So what do you think of the casting of Wright and Hill? Were there other actors you would've preferred in these roles? Let us know below!
