The Batman: Jonah Hill No Longer in Talks to Play Villain

After creating a lot of buzz on the Internet with the reveal that Warner Bros. Pictures was in talks with Jonah Hill to add him as a villain to face off against Robert Pattinson's The Batman, the two sides have come to an impasse. A new report from Deadline indicates that talks have broken down between Hill and the studio and both sides are moving on. The early rumors were that he would either be playing the Riddler or the Penguin, but now filmmaker Matt Reeves will have to look elsewhere to find his villain.

This comes after the cast was filled out with Zoe Kravitz, who will be playing Selina Kyle AKA Catwoman in the new film opposite Pattinson. Jeffrey Wright is also said to be playing Jim Gordon. Warner Bros. is already reportedly looking at new actors to fulfill the role said to be targeted for Hill.

A new report from TheWrap indicates that Hill was indeed in discussion to play the Riddler, but that the two could not come to an agreement. This is interesting because according to Deadline's writeup, there is interest in Seth Rogen for the role of the Penguin, but no offers or talks have occurred at this point.

The movie is shaping up to be a massive superhero story, and Reeves is hoping it is a definitive tale that showcases the Dark Knight's abilities as the World's Greatest Detective.

"It's just exciting to be focused very specifically on a tale that is defining for him and very personal to him," Reeves said last year to the Television Critics Association. "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."

Pattinson revealed to Variety that he's had ideas about Batman for a long time and that he even tried to meet with Reeves about the role before he was cast.

"I'd had Batman in my mind for a while," Pattinson explained. "It's such an absurd thing to say. I sort of had an idea to do it, and I'd been prodding Matt. He didn't accept any prods. I kept asking to meet him."

The Batman is currently on track for a June 25, 2021 release date. Filming is rumored to begin by the end of the year.