X-Men star James McAvoy, who currently plays Professor Charles Xavier, recently took to Instagram where he expressed his interest in playing the DC Comics villain the Riddler.
McAvoy answered a fan’s question on who he would be interested in playing if he joined the DC Universe. He answered, “The Riddler, maybe? I always liked him when I was growing up. That would be cool.” He would add, “I always thought DC does really good bad guys.”
James McAvoy says he’s down to join the DC universe as The Riddler if he’s out as Professor X in the MCU — ‘I’ve always thought DC does really good bad guys’
(via jamesmcavoyrealdeal | Instagram) pic.twitter.com/V6AXXglYAc
— Fandom (@getFANDOM) March 19, 2019
The Riddler is definitely one of Batman’s more recognized villains as he was portrayed by Jim Carrey in 1995’s Batman Forever. The character has also played an integral role in the Arkham video games from Rocksteady with Riddler serving as a main villain for a number of side missions. He’s also played a leading role on Fox’s Gotham TV show proving to be a great foil to the Penguin.
The character has also had a little bit of a resurgence in the comic books as he started a gang war in Gotham with the Joker that brought the city to its knees in Tom King’s [easyazon_link identifier=”1401273610″ locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]War of Jokes and Riddles[/easyazon_link].
It’s unclear what McAvoy’s fate with Charles Xavier will be following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox. It’s possible Disney might keep him on as Charles Xavier, but more than likely they will recast new X-Men characters when they do decide to bring the characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
McAvoy appears to be keeping his options open. Not only has he expressed interest in the Riddler, but he recently indicated he would be interested in playing a younger Jean Luc-Picard in the Star Trek universe.
“I will take you where no Star Trek fan has gone before,” he said if given the opportunity to play a young Picard. He would add, “I will reveal things about Jean-Luc Picard that nobody even wanted to see. I will rip this captain to shreds.”
McAvoy reprises his role as Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men: Dark Phoenix which hits theaters on June 7, 2019.
Do you think McAvoy could pull of the Riddler? Would you want him to play the Riddler?