The Batman Actor Peter Sarsgaard Reveals His Mystery Character Is a Shady Gotham Politician

2021 will see the long-awaited release of The Batman, the new Matt Reeves film that’s expected to have some major comic influence. The upcoming movie is set to star Robert Pattinson in the titular role and feature Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Colin Farrell as Penguin, and Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon. Peter Sarsgaard was also cast in the film, but until recently, his role in the DC movie was unclear. The actor recently paid a visit to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and revealed he’ll be playing a new character named Gil Colson (not to be confused with Marvel’s Phil Coulson).

“Now this is a new character created for the movie, right? Called Gil Colson,” Colbert asked. “Gil Colson, yeah yeah, and I’m a district attorney, and I’m basically a politician that has trouble telling the truth,” Sarsgaard explained. “Oh, what a novel idea,” Colbert joked. “I’m a pretty distasteful person in it,” Sarsgaard added. “Daddy doesn’t play nice people,” he joked when Colbert asked who Sarsgaard’s kids would prefer: his character or wife Maggie Gyllenhaal’s character in The Dark Knight. Turns out, Sarsgaard is somewhat of a bat expert and even offered up some bat-related advice to both Reeves and Pattinson. You can check out the full interview in the video below:

Previously, Reeves confirmed The Batman would follow Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne/Batman as the world’s greatest detective. According to the Cloverfield alum, it’ll be the closest thing to a noir-driven tale we’ve seen of the Caped Crusader.

“It’s very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale,” Reeves said to the Hollywood Reporter. “It’s told very squarely on his shoulders, and I hope it’s going to be a story that will be thrilling but also emotional. It’s more Batman in his detective mode than we’ve seen in the films. The comics have a history of that. He’s supposed to be the world’s greatest detective, and that’s not necessarily been a part of what the movies have been. I’d love this to be one where when we go on that journey of tracking down the criminals and trying to solve a crime, it’s going to allow his character to have an arc so that he can go through a transformation.”

The Batman hits theaters on June 25, 2021.