‘The Batman’ Seeking to Cast Jeffrey Wright and Jonah Hill

Batman
In another move that suggests that DC Films is moving away from the concept of having a shared universe (at least for the foreseeable future), Jeffrey Wright has been cast as Commissioner James “Jim” Gordon in The Batman, with a villain role possibly looking to go toward Jonah Hill.

 

The Hollywood Reporter is noting that Wright has officially been cast as Batman’s close ally and friend in the Gotham City Police Department. This should be of interest to fans as it means that the film will not be in-continuity with the so-called DC Extended Universe, which cast J. K. Simmons in the role as an older version of the character for Justice League; Wright is not only significantly younger, but his ethnic background is different than Simmons, meaning that the two cannot be the same iteration of this character. It’s been long rumored that Matt Reeves’s movie will be in its own continuity, and with Wright’s casting, we now have proof. Wright is a fantastic actor and should totally nail the role, so while it’s a bummer to know that we won’t be seeing any crossovers anytime soon, they at least got a pretty strong pick to play the character.

 

But on the other end of the spectrum, we have a different actor in discussions for a major part: Jonah Hill, who according to Deadline is set to portray an antagonist. THR chips in that they’re not sure which role Hill will play, as Warner Bros. are apparently interested in him being either the Riddler or the Penguin, with no clear decision regarding the casting as of yet. It should be noted that talks with Hill are nowhere near as final as talks with Wright are, suggesting that there’s a chance that Hill may not get involved with the project at all.

 

Wright, and potentially Hill, will act alongside Robert Pattinson’s version of Bruce Wayne, who is believed to be a version of Batman with a few years of experience under his belt. Some rumors have indicated that the film will be a character study about where Bruce Wayne’s personality ends and where Batman’s begins, while others suggest that the movie is a detective story inspired by tales like The Long Halloween, in which Batman has to investigate a gauntlet of his enemies while in pursuit of a dangerous serial killer. Or perhaps both things may be true. We’ll just have to find out.

 

The Batman, which is to be written and directed by Matt Reeves, will be released on June 25, 2021.