Kevin Smith Hopes Armie Hammer Is the Next Batman

Kevin Smith says Armie Hammer and Jon Hamm are his "top two picks" to replace Ben Affleck as Batman.

"Lovely dude who I've interviewed a few times up at Sundance for IMDb, I hope it's him. Man, does he look like Bruce Wayne. And boy does he have a Bruce Wayne Batman voice," Smith said of Hammer on the Mike Calta Show.

"Never mind all this voice hiding stuff or [imitating Christian Bale's Batman voice] 'I'm gonna talk like this.' He's got this naturally deep voice. Him, that'd be a great choice. Jon Hamm I think would be an amazing choice, those are my top two picks."

Asked if the 47-year-old Hamm is too old, Smith said, "Depends which Batman you're doing, man. If you're doing Dark Knight [Returns] Batman or the old Batman like Ben just was, then absolutely."

Affleck, who officially confirmed he had exited the role just last week, "just kind of walked away from it, and that was that," Smith said.

"We all seemed to know it months ago, but I guess it just got confirmed last week by Matt Reeves in an interview about like, 'Yeah, we're gonna do the noir-ish Batman and it'll be somebody different,' so the torch has been passed."

False reports surfaced earlier this week claiming Hammer, 32, was in "advanced talks" to play the next caped crusader under writer-director Matt Reeves.

Hammer personally debunked the report, telling Yahoo "no one's ever asked" him about the role.

"Let me say this. No one who can actually give me the job has asked me if I'm interested," Hammer said.

"I don't even know if they are done — I think they are still working on a script. I don't think that they are close to production but I can conclusively tell you that no one has checked my availability, which is a bummer."

The report was debunked again by reporters with Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. The latter has since reported studio Warner Bros. is on the hunt for a "late 20-something actor" to star as a Bruce Wayne who isn't "a straight-up rookie" superhero, but is not yet "the expert, undefeatable crimefighter of a Batman at his peak."

Smith previously suggested Thor star Chris Hemsworth for Batman, after reaffirming he wants to see Hamm as a veteran Batman.

The Batman is due out June 25, 2021.

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