James Gunn Will Not Cast Star-Lord Actor Chris Pratt As Batman In The DCU – While Recently Retired Superman Tyler Hoechlin Hopes He Gets The Part
James Gunn loves working with the same people over and over again and is bringing everyone he can into the DCU. He’s already got Nathan Fillion and his brother on board as Guy Gardner and Max Lord, respectively, with more surely on the way. Gunn still has capes and cowls left to fill, including the most important ones belonging to Batman.
He has a few seasoned veterans of superhero blockbusters in his stable to choose from who can play a grizzled Dark Knight, such as Chris Pratt. The Peter Quill actor is on the shortlist of many fans’ ideal Bruce Wayne, but the role is out of his reach, unfortunately for him, according to Gunn.
“As Batman? No,” Gunn said when asked as a guest on the PelucheEn ElEstuche YouTube channel. “As something? Yes,” he added reassuringly, “Chris Pratt is one of my best friends. We talk all the time. He’s a great guy. He would love to do something at DC. I would love for him to do something at DC.”
Alternatives were thrown out, including Wonder Woman, but Gunn shot that down too, thankfully. “He would be a terrible Wonder Woman,” Gunn said with a laugh. “That would be terrible.” Shazam was also mentioned, and Gunn responded with another no.
If he remains indecisive long enough, that could leave the door open to an unexpected casting, or so hopes a former Superman. CW Man of Steel Tyler Hoechlin added his name to the conversation at a recent Fan Expo Canada appearance, but with a potential caveat.
“Well, selfishly, I’m going to say no because I still want to play Batman. I think and I say that Rob [Pattinson] did a fantastic, fantastic job and [with] Matt Reeves it was great. So I’m happy to let them keep doing their thing, and maybe leave the door open…” Hoechlin said [via Cosmic Book News].
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The actor might be aware of the chatter online that Warner Bros., by order of David Zaslav, might desperately merge the two universes and fold Matt Reeves’s so-called “Batman Epic Crime Saga” into the DCU.
This is a rumor predicated on a hypothetical setup for a new Justice League movie and Gunn’s pet project, The Brave and The Bold, falling apart, ultimately. Priorities are shifting constantly at DC Studios, so anything is possible.
However, in our opinion, Battinson being favored over anything Gunn wants is highly unlikely despite BOTB’s sluggish momentum. On that note, Gunn provided an update on the project’s progress, and unshockingly, he is not any closer to figuring this thing out.
“We’ll have to see what we’re doing with Batman, and [figure] that out. So obviously we know some basics about where it’s going with Batman, but we’re also figuring some things out, so everything’s fluid,” he told Screen Rant.
