Another day, another completely unfounded DC movie rumor, another James Gunn social media post telling people not to believe everything they read. You can set your watch by the cycle at this point. Even Gunn himself is clearly getting tired of it all, as he’s now responding to the bullshit by literally just rolling his eyes.
The latest completely made-up rumor that is making the rounds is that Ryan Gosling has been cast as the new DCU’s official Batman. His name has even been added to the Letterboxd page for Gunn’s Superman: Legacy. This makes the post twice the BS, because not only has the DCU Batman not been cast, but there’s no confirmation that the character will be part of the Superman: Legacy cast, even though several other DC heroes are making their debut there. Gunn responded on Threads to seeing Gosling’s name without a word, responding with just an emoji.
🙄
While many filmmakers have resigned themselves to the fact that rumors are a fact of the industry and have just decided to ignore them, James Gunn is different. It’s clear that he finds rumors that he knows are untrue to be frustrating, and he makes a point of debunking them and has even taken shots at those that started them.
We know without having to do significant amounts of work that any rumor regarding the DCU’s Batman is untrue. Gunn himself recently made a point of saying that no casting for a film is discussed until there is a script. Even if Batman or Bruce Wayne were set to appear in Superman: Legacy it’s unlikely that casting would be done without a script for The Brave and the Bold, the DCU Batman movie that has already been announced. The new Batman movie didn’t have a script in November, and while it’s possible there might be a finished draft by now, that doesn’t mean they’re ready to gear up casting conversations yet.
This is not to say that the idea of Ran Gosling as Batman would be a terrible idea. While it’s unclear how interested he would be in an ongoing franchise role, he’s a skilled actor who would probably be great as Batman. But that also depends on what sort of Batman we’re getting in the new film. The Brave and the Bold details are slim, with little beyond the fact that the movie will also include Damian Wayne as Robin being known with certainty. Whoever plays the lead role will need to not only be good at playing Batman and Bruce Wayne but also dad.
While the only upcoming DC movie on the 2024 movie schedule is the Joker sequel, we are expected to see the DCU’s Gods and Monsters story get underway in 2024 with the planned Creature Commandos animated series. And while a Batman casting announcement coming this year is very possible, we’re really not there yet.
