Colin Farrell very well might be back in the saddle as a comic book baddie. A new report from Deadline suggests the Daredevil alum is currently in talks to play The Penguin in Matt Reeves‘ The Batman. Should Farrell and Warner Brothers finalize the deal, he’d join the likes of Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, and Paul Dano in the Reeves-directed epic. Reports earlier Monday also suggested Black Panther star and Venom 2 director Andy Serkis is in talks to play Bruce Wayne’s legendary butler Alfred Pennyworth.
Most recently, Farrell’s appeared in Warner’s Fantastic Beasts franchise as Percival Graves. He also starred in Tim Burton’s live-action Dumbo remake earlier this year, a movie many might consider to be a box office flop. Coincidentally enough, Farrell also played Bullseye in the earliest Daredevil movie opposite Ben Affleck’s Matt Murdock. Affleck had been Warner’s choice for the Caped Crusader before being replaced by Pattinson.
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Reeves previously teased a detective noir film for his standalone feature, sure to stress the fact he doesn’t plan on tapping into another Batman origin story this time around.
“I went on a deep dive again revisiting all my favorite comics. Those all inform by osmosis,” Reeves explained last summer. “There’s no continuation of the Nolan films. It’s very much trying to find a way to do this as something that for me is going to be definitively Batman and new and cool.”
“Obviously we’re not doing an origin tale or anything like that,” Reeves added. “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.”
Warner Bros. has dated The Batman for June 25, 2021. Upcoming DC movies include Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022
What have you thought about the onslaught of The Batman casting news? Who were you hoping to see as The Penguin? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
