Jack O'Connell Rumored to Be up for 'The Batman' Role

Warner Bros. may have its eye on a new candidate to be the next live-action Batman.

That Hashtag Show reports that is has heard a rumor Warner Bros. is looking at Jack O'Connell to play Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves' The Batman.

The Hashtag Show stresses in its report that this is just a rumor and one that they have not been able to corroborate. O'Connell seems like an unconventional choice for the role, but so did Micheal Keaton when he was cast.

O'Connell is an English actor whose film debut was in This Is England in 2006, in which he played a teenage skinhead. O'Connell was praised for his portrayal of troubled youth with pent-up anger. Those talents may be relevant to The Batman if the film is going the Year One route with a younger, more raw Batman, as has been rumored.

O'Connell gained additional notoriety for his lead roles in the indie films Starred Up in 2013 and '71 in 2014. He then took the lead role in Angelina Jolie's Unbroken, released in 2014, and co-starred alongside Julia Roberts and George Clooney in Money Monster in 2016. He has received a BAFTA Rising Star Award.

The Batman has been surrounded by rumors and speculation, specifically concerning whether Ben Affleck, who has played the Dark Knight in three DC Extended Universe films, will return to the role. Affleck recently checked into rehab. Reports suggest that soaring insurance costs around the star may force him out of the role, but other reports suggest that he met with Warner Bros. during a week-long break from his rehab program.

Reeves has reportedly sent the first draft of The Batman's script into the studio. While the film may be influenced by Batman: Year One, Reeves has stated that it will not be a straight adaptation of any particular comic book story.

"Year One is one of the many comic books that I love. We are definitely not doing Year One," Reeves said. "It's just exciting to be focused very specifically on a tale that is defining for him and very personal to him. Obviously, we're not doing an origin tale or anything like that. We're doing a story that is definitively Batman though, and trying to tell a story that's emotional and yet is really about him being the world's greatest detective and all the things that for me since I was a kid, made me love Batman."

Do you think Jack O'Connell could make a good Batman? Let us know in the comments!

Other upcoming DC Extended Universe movies include Aquaman on December 21st, Wonder Woman 1984 on November 1, 2019, Shazam on April 5, 2019, Cyborg in 2020, and Green Lantern Corps in 2020.