Dream Casting Batman

On the heels of my surprisingly well received letter to DC Comics, I vowed I would also pitch my idea of what a Batman reboot would look like.

Now that Nolan’s Batman trilogy is done and over with, rumors have been abound about a possible Justice League movie and the question on my mind is…who is going to play the Caped Crusader? After one debaucherous evening filled with frenzied Facebook messages among myself, Koala, and Deadrabbit92, this is what we came up with (please note that the majority of this cast was chosen out of a more modern group of actors):

Armie Hammer as Bruce Wayne/Batman
He has played varied roles which showcase his acting ability, is aesthetically attractive, and needs a little bit of a dye job/five o’ clock shadow.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Richard Grayson

While I didn’t care too much for the character he was given in TDKR, I enjoyed his performance and JGL is at his best when he’s silly. Dick is definitely the more jovial of the Robins and when that fan made Nightwing suit came out, I swooned. Let’s make it happen!

Jensen Ackler as Jason Todd
He’s already voiced this resurrected Robin in the animated flick Under the Red Hood to perfection, so why not pull on the helmet in a live action version?

Dominic Cooper as Timothy Drake
Although he’s currently playing another sidekick in the form of Marvel’s Bucky Barnes, Dominic has that boyish charm and the acting chops to pull of perfectionist Timothy Drake.

Arsalan Ghasemi as Damian Wayne
He is a relative newcomer to Hollywood, as he has starred in two Bollywood blockbusters and is rumored to be involved with the Ender’s Shadow movie adaptation.

Kevin Costner as Alfred Pennyworth

I am extremely exhausted from Alfred being portrayed as an old man/butler.  Alfred has a vast array of skills, that when properly utilized, make him a certified badass. Also, Kevin Costner with the pencil thin mustache just seems right.

Tom Selleck as Commissioner James Gordon
This is another one of those things where I read a character and imagine someone else entirely. No, he’s not ginger, but that magnificent facial hair begs to be on the big screen. He’s equal parts thespian and rugged teddy bear.

Summer Glau as Barbara Gordon (Batgirl/Oracle)
She’s already kicked all kinds of ass as River Tam, so let’s bring her over to the realm of costumed heroes. She’s smart, and deadly in hand to hand combat, and hey, look at that, I found a picture of her with red hair!

Michael Fassbender as The Joker
When ole Fassy’s face broke into a wide grin during X-Men: First Class, all I thought in my brain was “Oh my God, he’d be great as the Joker. ” Not only has he proven himself in varied roles, some of which earned him awards, I personally think he could pull off green hair!

Isla Fisher as Harley Quinn (Harleen Quinzel)
The petite and perky actress not only has the high-pitched voice for costumed villain, she has experience playing crazy (see Wedding Crashers).

Annalynne McCord as Selina Kyle (Catwoman)
While she hasn’t done much outside of TV, she certainly has the “come hither” look down pat and practically purrs each time she opens her mouth. Perhaps all she needs is the right opportunity and who knows, ballsy anti-hero Selina Kyle just might be it.

Ryan Gosling as The Riddler
The mischievous green attired Riddler might be somewhat of a second nature to the rumored practical joker, Ryan Gosling. Not only can he wear the shit out of a suit, he looks damn good in question marks.

Daniel Day-Lewis as Two-Face
If you are not familiar with at least 25% of the filmography of Daniel Day-Lewis, I bid you good day. The man is a damn fine actor and one that could bring a whole different face to the coin-flipping villain.

Liam Neeson as Ra’s al Ghul
Why fix what ain’t broken?

Christopher Meloni as Victor Fries
If you pronounced that as [French] fries, shame on you! While I am assured he does fantastically on Law & Order, I caught sight of him acting and being half nude in True Blood…either way, he is our choice for Mr. Freeze.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin
PHS is another actor who you should be familiar with. He’s fucking glorious and I’ve been dreaming of him as a Batman villain for such a very long time. Someone email this list to someone who has a hand in making these things. Before TDKR came out, rumors were EVERYWHERE that he would play Penguin and I nearly jizzed in my undies, but alas, it was not true.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Calendar Man
Yeah, he’s on here twice, but he is my DREAM CHOICE for a villain.

Adrien Brody as Scarecrow
My very blatant lust for Mr. Brody aside, he is lean. He is even downright spindly. I think he could pull off the master of fear gas masterfully. Just as much as him lounging in a chair makes my brain scream “ALUCARD!” (a casting for a different day), he could bring this villain to life, no offense to one equally hot Cillian Murphy.

Karen Gillan as Poison Ivy
Fresh off of Doctor Who, this leggy Scot is vivacious and sassy. Our original choice was Christina Hendricks, but after perusing many, many photos, decided on the almost six-foot tall ginger.

Morena Baccarin or Eva Green as Talia al Ghul
What father is complete without his equally dark minded daughter? Notably famous on the internet for friendzoning Bane in TDKR, Talia is also the girl who drugged her way into Batman’s heart, complete with harvesting his seed in the form of his newest Robin, Damian. Overly attached girlfriend much? Aside from these character traits, she is also a criminal mastermind and has her very own personal guard filled with assassins.

John Malkovich as Hugo Strange
The most twisted doctor of them all must be played by someone who is able to play off kilter personalities and have a distinct voice. First person to pop into mind was movie veteran John Malkovich. Surprisingly, internet searches showed that we are not alone in our hope.

Timothy Olyphant as Victor Zsasz
I love the overlooked villains, the ones that never make it onto the big screen (NO, I do not count the glimpse of a bald goateed man in Nolan’s Batman Begins) and Zsasz is one of my faves. Dark, gritty, and your basic homicidal maniac, Zsasz is perfect and ripe for the movies!

Martin Short as Jervis Tetch (Mad Hatter)
Seriously. Look at that smile and tell me he couldn’t creep you out as he called you “Alice” and stroked your newly dyed blonde hair.

Bruce Campbel as Clayface
ENOUGH SAID!

Christopher Judge as Killer Croc
While this Stargate actor isn’t young per se, he is one HUGE dude and has that gruff deep voice that would be perfectly utilized as Waylon Jones. Now if only they would put him in a movie! They could do his Joker Asylum story! It’d be glorious! I just realized I’m making myself sad with this list as these will never come to fruition. Ah, well.

Jackie Earle Haley as Black Mask
He’s a fast talker. Short. From epic graphic novel adaptations to horror films, JEH has shown that he can play ANYTHING.

Eric Bana as Hush
I can’t do anything but weep happily when I think about Eric Bana portraying Hush.

So many characters were “cast” because if history is any sort of indication, there’ll be more than one movie (probably 3) and my choice for story would involve many characters, including villains who have yet to hit movies.

If I had my way, the first movie would be devoid of the usual thirty minutes of  origin story (an Amazing Spider-Man-esque comic montage would do just fine in the opening credits) and instead set up shop for celebrated Batman story Hush or equally popular story, The Long Halloween. Both stories are incredibly rich in story telling and of course, cuts will have to be made in order to properly adapt it for the big screen…I just hope it isn’t skewered completely.

What do you think? Should DC adapt an already existing story or forge ahead with a completely new story?

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