Andy Serkis is in Talks to Play Alfred in The Batman; Colin Farrell is Up for The Penguin
JB Augustine
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It’s become clearer, after months and months of speculation, who Andy Serkis is playing in The Batman directed by Matt Reeves. And we have an update on who will rule Gotham’s Underworld as The Penguin.
TheWrap reported Tuesday that Serkis is in talks to play Bruce’s loyal butler, guardian, and confidant Alfred Pennyworth.
If true, he steps into polished shoes filled most recently by Jeremy Irons and Michael Caine. The late Michael Gough – a favorite player of Tim Burton – played Alfred before either of them in four films straight.
Rumor: Andy Serkis Will Appear in The Batman as a Villain Other Than Penguin
Serkis is widely acclaimed for his motion-capture performances in Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson’s King Kong, Reeves’ Planet of the Apes trilogy, and Snoke in the last two Star Wars films. He showed his face to breathe life into Ulysses Klau in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Black Panther.
He’s directed here and there as well. His first feature was 2017’s Breathe and his adaptation of Rudyard Kipling, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, landed at Netflix.
Sony was impressed by his body of work enough to give him directing duties over Venom 2 which is slated to shoot around the same time next year as The Batman
Related: Venom Creator Todd McFarlane Shares His Opinion on Spider-Man Controversy
Through most of the year, the Internet was under the impression Serkis was going to play among the roster of villains, either Penguin or Mad Hatter. He was considered the frontrunner for the former but that’s all changed.
He Never Misses
Just as TheWrap was breaking the story surrounding Andy Serkis, Deadline picked it up with one addition to report. Colin Farrell is now negotiating with Warner Bros. to play Oswald Cobblepot after Jonah Hill dropped out.
Related — Report: Jonah Hill Passes on Matt Reeves’ The Batman
The last time anybody saw Colin Farrell in a comic book movie was 2003 when he played Bullseye in Daredevil. He’s largely stayed away from big-budget blockbusters and franchises since then. However, this past year, he starred in Disney’s Dumbo remake alongside former Penguin Danny Devito.
Farrell’s not my first choice as Penguin but he wouldn’t be the first outside-the-box casting for anything Batman-related. The announcement of Heath Ledger as Joker met with a mixed reaction. People then saw The Dark Knight and now he’s a favorite of most fans.
Confirmed for The Batman are Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, and Paul Dano. Negotiations are ongoing so IMDb lists Farrell and Serkis strictly as rumored. Matthew McConaughey is also listed as rumored for Harvey Dent.
Both Serkis and Farrell are represented by agency CAA which you may remember was the home of Jared Leto until they dumped him for allegedly kicking up a storm over Todd Phillips’ Joker.
Related: Jared Leto Wanted to “Throttle” His “Rival Joker in Its Cradle” and Stop It From Being Made
The Batman will release to theaters on June 25th, 2021.
Do you have any thoughts about Andy Serkis or Colin Farrell in The Batman? Please leave a comment.
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