DC Comics, Movies

Please Cast Armie Hammer for Batman

Over the last few days, movement on Matt Reeves’ Batman movie has gone into overdrive. First, Reeves finally shed some light on his take on the Bat mythos. Then, Warner Bros. finally set a release date for the movie — June 25, 2021. To top it all off, Ben Affleck himself set the record straight about his involvement in the project, essentially confirming his departure as Batman.

While the writing has been on the wall since, well, since Batman v Superman gave us “Sad Affleck,” whether or not Affleck would remain in the cowl for the duration of the DCEU had always been an unanswered question. Whether or not Affleck suits up elsewhere, Reeves has always been adamant that a different, younger actor was going to be his Caped Crusader. And if you’ve ever followed me on twitter, you know my pick has always been Armie Hammer.

To be fair, Hammer has been many Batfan’s preferred Bruce Wayne for a long time, including director George Miller who cast him in the aborted Justice League Mortal film in 2007.

Costume test shot from George Miller’s Justice League Mortal

In full transparency, I wasn’t a fan of the idea more than a decade ago. Since I was invested in seeing Christopher Nolan’s Batman story play out, the idea of another version of the characters — not to mention multiple versions of Superman, what with Superman Returns and Smallville already coexisting — was less than appealing. Hammer was also only 19 years old at the time and the idea of a teenaged Batman was not for me.

Flash forward a decade, though, and Hammer has not only aged into the role, his look, size, and physicality (Affleck is 6’4″, Hammer is 6’5″) make him the perfect choice to step into Affleck’s Bat shoes. Also, his resume since 2007 is perfectly suited to prep him for Batman. Masked Hero? Check (The Lone Ranger)! Spoiled Rich Kid? Check (The Social Network)! Eccentric Billionaire? Check (Sorry to Bother You)! On top of all that, he’s got a proven track record playing well with other DC heroes!

Batman and Superman

Batman and Lex Luthor

Batman and Wonder Woman*

*They’ll be co-starring in Death on the Nile, Kenneth Branaugh’s sequel to Murder on the Orient Express.

So yes, I am willing to die on the BatArmie hill! Make him the new Batman in Matt Reeves’ film and Beyond1! If I can’t have Armie as Bats, I’d settle for the following:

Oscar Isaac

Though I think he’s too short to be Batman, I’d be down for BatPoe mainly because Friend of the NOC Preeti Chhibber wants it so badly.

My Dark Horse Dark Knight, though?

Henry Golding

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I mean, he’s already played a charming gazillionaire in Crazy Rich Asians.

I also wouldn’t be mad at a Michael B. Jordan or Daniel Kaluuya Batman.

Especially if New York Times columnist gets to write the script.

  1. Speaking of Batman Beyond, who better to cast as older Bruce than Michael Keaton? And get Steven Yeun to be Terry and you’ll have all my money. For more on who I’d cast in a Batman Beyond movie, check out this episode of DC TV Classics! ↩

2 thoughts on “Please Cast Armie Hammer for Batman”

  1. You know who’d be a great Batman? Michael Fassbender. I feel like he could play Bruce Wayne and Batman while maintaining that underline grit that both characters need.

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