With my previous casts I’ve always cast actors who are/were young for a younger/earlier take on the characters I cast them as, but this time round, I thought try my hand at casting older actors as older and more established versions of characters in a more established and slightly more faithful (to the New 52) take on an older universe. Now, as I’ve already done a fair few casts, I’ll admit to have recycled certain actors and actresses here from my previous DC casts as different characters, but that’s because this cast is different from my previous casts; essentially they’re not part of the same cinematic universe- this is just an older cast for an older and more established cinematic universe. So, like before I’ve maintained my generic view with casting so, rather than cast one specific film entry in a franchise I decided to cast of characters I’d expect to be around in essentially a 10-15 year window of Batman’s existence, and who will hopefully crop up in his future films.
Now, before I get started I’d just like to mention majority of my casting decisions were made prior to Ben Affleck and Jeremy Irons were cast for Batman v Superman or whatever it's called, so admittedly I haven’t cast them (at least in the roles they have been as), but as for the supporting cast here? Well, to be honest, I believe most of them would work equally well alongside them in the inevitable next Batman film. So personally, I hope they go for something that is tonally a little more in line with New 52 and a cross between Tim Burton’s Batman and Chris Nolan’s Batman Begins, why? Well, personally speaking, this in my mind is the best approach to take with the character given that it’d be a perfect marriage of the best elements of the character’s history combined.
So, given that I’m casting for a 10-15 year window, rather than start with a new origin story for the Dark Knight though, I’d expect to be introduced to a very well established Batman; basically the a Batman in his peak, who’s earned Gotham’s respect and is essentially the current comic book incarnation of the character- think a cross between the Batman from Batman: Hush and Scott Snyder’s most recent rendition of the character. As Warner Bros. are already going for an older Batman, this kind of take on the character, I think, would be the best way to make a very badass and different Batman for the big screen.
___________________________ Anson Mount as Bruce Wayne/The Batman As mentioned above, I’m looking forward to Ben Affleck taking on the role, but he was nowhere near my 1st choice for an older Batman; that honour instead goes to Mount. He’s a pretty underrated actor, I admittedly was mainly introduced to him via his work in
Hell On Wheels but he proved his talents there very well. He can play rough, tough and gruff and is very badass and very capable with drama, and is also capable of playing, cold, ruthless, smart, smooth and suave with ease too as seen in his work in
Safe. So, put simply, I think Mount could’ve brought a great balance to the character and really just shined with portraying the detective/master strategist/intelligent aspect of the character and essentially, be the happy medium between Michael Keaton’s take on the character and Christian Bale’s and Nolan’s.
Only other thing I’d like to mention though, is with the suit, whilst there has been all sorts of rumours floating around, I personally would love to look a cross between the New 52 and
Arkham Origins suit (with the latter of the two taking more precedence), albeit with the black and yellow colouration –
Click Here to See Jonathan Hyde as Alfred Pennyworth Like with Affleck as Batman, whilst I’m looking forward to Irons in the role, I initially had someone different in mind; Jonathan Hyde. So, just want to mention, I personally am more a fan of the gruffer and tougher Alfred we’ve seen more and more lately, but it has to be said Hyde would actually be perfect as the classy and suave incarnation we were all raised on (and essentially what I originally expected to be the case). I’ve seen him in a fair few things now and it’s safe he’s a very talented actor; he’s been praised critically for both his theatre and film work. Regardless of this, I cast him here ultimately because of two things; he looks the part and he essentially played a lighter incarnation of the character before in
Richie Rich. So, if cast, I think like Hyde would be able to work brilliantly as a smooth and suave father figure to the obviously, rougher Batman.
Lennie James as Lucius Fox James is very underrated and underappreciated actor, I’ve seen him in a fair few things now and it’s pretty clear he’d be a strong candidate to rival Morgan Freeman. He’s versatile; capable with both comedy and drama and is just genuinely quite a likable personality- something which often shines through with his characters and works in their favour. Despite all that, James is admittedly closer in age to Mount (and even Affleck), but I still think he’d be a solid choice for the role as personally, I prefer Alfred to be the sole father-figure to Bruce and Lucius to be more of a childhood friend to Bruce or even a protégé of Thomas Wayne’s; something I think James could work well with. So, if I had my way, he’d definitely have a chance at the role.
Anyway, just wanted to mention, unlike the last take on the character, I want Fox to be portrayed next time round just as Bruce’s armorer; he should just make/provide the Batsuits, gadgets and vehicles whilst Bruce himself, does the detective work and science stuff; I think this would be a more realistic depiction of Batman’s intelligence and show that he can work without Fox’s aid to a degree.
Asa Butterfield as Damian Wayne/Robin Butterfield is admittedly a little older than the character, but quite frankly he’s the only choice there is to me for the role. He’s just a really talented young actor who could bring a solid balance of light and darkness to the role, and can even elevate the worst material to something very watchable. Ultimately, I cast him because of his most recent turn in
Ender’s Game where I thought he perfectly captured a lot of the attributes the character is known for. However, despite that, personally speaking, looking at him, especially with shorter hair, I think he’s a dead ringer for the character, especially if Damian was a little older.
Only other thing I’d like to mention is rather than give Robin a bright ‘shoot me, I’m a target’ costume, I’d expect the Boy Wonder (and the other Bat sidekicks too) to be given a similar coloured suit to the Dark Knight himself; again I’d like something in line with the
Arkham Origins, thought with the colouration of the
Young Justice stealth suits –
Click Here to See Imogen Poots as Stephanie Brown/Batgirl I’ve seen Poots in a fair bit now and it’s pretty clear she’s a young actress to watch. She’s very cute, talented and has very bubbly kind of energy to her which I personally, associate with the character and think would work very well for her take on the character too. End of the day, like I said she’s talented, so I’d be willing to see what she could do in the role.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Barbara Gordon/Oracle Finding a right fit for this role was pretty tough for me, but ultimately I cast Winstead due primarily to her work in
Live Free or Die Hard and
The Thing. Might seem like a strange choice of films to refer to when considering Winstead’s talents, but despite them getting poor/mixed receptions, Winstead shined throughout and displayed a lot of the traits the character is known for. She can play tough, intelligent, do drama, comedy and handle both dark and light material pretty well. Ultimately, I cast her though I think she could bring a lot of depth to the role and bring the right balance of intelligence and toughness, and in particular, play up the (post-Joker) survivor aspect of the character really well.
Garret Hedlund as Dick Grayson/Nightwing Hedlund’s a rising up and comer, whilst some argue he had his ‘big break’ and failed (
Tron: Legacy), I thought he did a serviceable job, but with recent roles he’s shown he’s really grown as an actor and can really handle much more weightier material as seen in
The Road. Regardless, the way I see it, when you get down to basics, his character Sam Flynn from
Tron: Legacy was essentially, a much more laid back version of Dick Grayson, so if given a chance, I think Hedlund could do great job as Nightwing and bring a good balance of charm and grit to the role too.
Alden Ehrenreich as Tim Drake/Redwing Note: Red Robin is a kinda crappy superhero name, I mean, there’s a restaurant with the same name, and as it’s the character’s second super identity, I feel that it falls back too much on his former identity, whilst it should reflect a certain progression like the name ‘Nightwing’. So, personally speaking again, I think ‘Redwing’ would be a much better alternative to what Drake goes by at the moment.
Now, I’ve seen Ehrenreich in a few things now and it’s pretty clear he’s a rising talent. He can play the dark and brooding intellectual with ease and he brings a certain weight and wisdom to his roles which I think would apply greatly to this role and do nothing but just make the character more interesting and allow him to own it. Despite that though, personally speaking, I think he has a very strong resemblance to the pre-52 incarnation of the character, in particular, the version drawn by Jim Lee seen in
Batman: Hush- either way, hopefully, if ever the character is brought to the big screen hopefully it’ll be more reminiscent to the pre-52 incarnation as opposed to current New 52 version.
Jaime Alexander as Helena Bertinelli/Huntress Alexander was and still is to a lot of people as a fan favourite for Wonder Woman, and whilst I think she’d do a solid job in the role, I personally don’t think she has the presence to carry a role of that calibre, however Huntress? I think she’d own the role absolutely. She’s a talented actress, who’s clearly capable of shining even with a small amount of screen time, but despite she has a talent at being badass, capable with drama and balancing it all nicely by not making things to serious. Alongside this though, personally speaking, she too reminds me a lot of the pre-52 incarnation of the character, and again, in particular Jim Lee’s take on the character as seen in
Batman: Hush.
Chris Cooper as James Gordon Cooper’s more or less always played/playing tough and gruff authoritative characters well and in a role such as this he’d only do nothing but elevate the material and his fellow actors performances. Whilst he might not be a popular choice for the role given his notoriety in playing bad guys and villains often, I think like Oldman he’d really shine in the role and definitely bring some depth to the role and definitely bring a wise kind of presence to an older and slightly more weary incarnation of the character.
Alec Baldwin as Harvey Bullock Baldwin might seem like a bit of strange choice for this role, but honesty, in my mind there is no other actor fitting for this incarnation of the character. He’s very versatile, capable with both comedy and drama, and can definitely bring some weight and presence to the role too, but despite all that, I mainly cast him because of his work in
30 Rock and
The Departed. Put simply, his work there was essentially an audition for this role to me, so personally speaking, if given the chance I’d love to see him take it on.
James Cromwell as Hugo Strange This might seem like another weird casting decision, but after seeing Cromwell in
American Horror Story: Asylum I knew he’d be perfect for the role. There he essentially already played the character, albeit more weird and creepy, so to me, it’s clear he qualifies greatly for the role.
Kelly Reilly as Vicki Vale I’ve seen Reilly in a fair amount of things now and it’s clear she’s a very capable actress who has knack for playing smart and feisty characters. She can do drama well and has dabbled with both drama and comedy, plus is very beautiful and strongly resembles the character, so if cast I think she’d do wonders and just further help elevate the Bat’s supporting cast.
Sharlto Copley as the Joker Replacing the late, great Heath Ledger is going to be a monumental task for anyone, but if we’re going for an older and more established incarnation of the Joker, I honest believe there is no one better than Copley for the role. He’s a really underrated and very capable actor who I feel has yet to truly shine in a role, but undoubtedly has the most potential to revolutionise the role like Ledger did before him. From his work in
The A-Team,
Elysium and
Old Boy in particular I think Copley would absolutely own the role, bringing the right balance of badassery, creepiness, intellect, madness, humour and intimidation. So put simply, if cast, I think Copley is truly one of the very few actors who could bring the right kind of balance between Jack Nicholson’s evil prankster and Heath Ledger’s agent of chaos and really just make the role his own, especially given that he shares quite the resemblance with the traditional version of the character.
Only thing left to say is, next time the Joker is brought to the big screen I want him to be more capable a fighter;
Batman: Lovers and Madmen portrayed him as a nihilistic adrenalin-junkie hitman prior to his transformation, so this might be a good place to draw from, though I would like his brief stint as the Red Hood to be shined upon (hopefully as done by Scott Snyder recently). Anyway, as most of you’d expect, I’d also like the Joker to look like the above picture, but a little bit more scary; a cross between the above look and Nate Belegarde’s redesign would be a great look to adapt –
Click Here to See Jon Hamm as Harvey Dent/Two-Face Hamm has been fan cast notoriously for a wide range of comic book related roles including the Dark Knight himself, but personally speaking, none of them have ever really fit for me except this one. He’s a great, versatile actor; capable with both drama and comedy, but ignoring that, he has a very ‘classic hero’ presence to him like Aaron Eckhart, and with his roles in
Mad Men and
The Town I feel he’d be a perfect choice for the role. Anyway, given that now his buddy Ben Affleck has been cast as Batman, this is one role I feel could actually shape up somewhere down the line.
Stephen Graham as Oswald Cobblepot/the Penguin Whilst I’m more inclined to my ‘younger’/original choice Eddie Marsan for the role, given that this is an older and alternate cast Graham would be my next choice for it. Graham’s a very talented actor who has consistently proven his talents with
This is England, his small stint in
Public Enemies and more recently
Boardwalk Empire. He’s a very versatile individual and has a clear knack for playing charming and savage shady characters/villains, so I’d definitely be willing to see what Martin Scorsese’s ‘British Joe Pesci’ could do with the role.
Hugh Dancy as Edward Nigma/the Riddler Dancy only caught my attention with his role as Will Graham in
Hannibal; quite frankly, whilst I've been aware of him, his work there blew me away. It’s clear to me now that he’s a really talented and pretty underrated actor. As seen in the aforementioned show alone, Dancy can play unconventional and socially awkward geniuses very well and also knows how to handle dark material well too. End of the day, given that he already knows his way around light material and more than proven his talents with darker material I think he’d be a very interesting choice for the role and definitely be able to bring more depth and a bit more edge to the role and just make the Riddler that much more interesting and appealing.
Cole Hauser as Roman Sionis/Black Mask With his roles in
Pitch Black and
2 Fast 2 Furious I think it’s safe to say Hauser qualifies for the role. He’s a talented actor capable of playing deranged, psychotic, unstable, manipulative, calculating and badass characters very well and always brings a slightly eerie/intimidating kind of presence to his characters and quite frankly, for a role like this that’s necessary. Anyway, given that he has also worked alongside Ben Affleck in the past, this is another role I feel and especially do hope, could actually shape up somewhere down the line.
Leana Headley as Selina Kyle/Catwoman Headley is a very talented, and sexily powerful actress. She has a clear talent with drama and comes off as naturally pretty badass, but she also has this natural feistiness and strong sexual presence to her which I can’t quite explain but associate very much with the role. Regardless, with her work in
300,
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and
Game of Thrones I’d say she more than qualifies for the role.
Only thing I’d like to say, whilst I’m not expecting the character to look too high tech, I do like Stanley Lau’s take on the iconic femme fatale, so hope this is the eventual suit/look adapted to the big screen next, simply as its sleek, simple and slightly high tech/end looking –
Click Here to See Jaime King as Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn This might seem like a bit of a strange casting decision but with her roles in
White Chicks and
Sin City I can’t help but picture King as Quinn, especially given the fact that she shares a resemblance to Lee Bermejo’s incarnation of the character as seen in Brian Azzarelo’s
Joker. She’s a talented and capable actress and is obviously very attractive but despite all that, I think she’d do wonders in the role given that she is capable with both dark and light material.
Jessica Chastain as Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy Once again, this might seem like a bit of a strange casting decision, but quite frankly, Chastain is one of the very few actresses I feel could elevate the character and make her seem like a credible threat. We all know she’s a talented actress and obviously, very beautiful too, but despite all that I cast her as she naturally comes off as very intelligent and also I feel, has somewhat of a hidden edge to her, which I think would do nothing but benefit her in the role.
Michael Sheen as Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow Sheen is a really talented actor who has also been notoriously fan cast in a variety of different comic book related roles over the years, though personally speaking, Scarecrow is the only real role that fits to me. With his roles in the
Underworld series,
Unthinkable,
Tron: Legacy and
Masters of Sex in particular, I think Sheen would absolutely own the role and just make it his own, really that simple.
Anyway I’d just like to say, with Scarecrow like a few characters I've cast here, the
Arkham look found a special place in my heart so I’d love to see it influence his eventual look next time the character's brought to the big screen –
Click Here to See Michael C. Hall as Thomas Elliot/Hush What can I say? Despite how the show ended, I did cast Hall here because of his work in
Dexter; there he essentially played a ‘heroic’ version of Hush and beautifully displayed his talents. If cast here, I think Hall would really do wonders and just serve as a very great and memorable villain for the Bat to face.
Vincent D’Onofrio as Lazlo Valentin/Professor Pyg D’Onofrio is a really great actor who has a great kind of intellectual and dark presence which elevates most of his roles. He’d bring a great sadistic and creepy vibe to the character and I think if given the chance he’d be brilliant here and also prove to be a very memorable and creepy villain- but personally speaking, I’m not quite sure why but I think he’d bring a great creepy
Eyes Wide Shut kind of vibe to the role too.
Toby Kebbel as Jason Todd/the Red Hood Some of you maybe scratching your heads at this choice, and those of you who aren’t might be thinking this is a weird casting choice, but quite frankly, in my mind there is no better choice for the ‘bad Robin’ than Kebbel. He’s a really great and underrated actor who isn’t quite getting as much attention he deserves. He’s very capable and can easily play cool, charming, weird, badass and very simply frightening and cold with ease, and with his roles in films like
Wilderness,
RocknRolla and
The Veteran I’d say he more than qualifies for the role and would definitely be able to play up the ‘damaged survivor’ aspect of the character well.
Only other thing I’d say though, rather than his current New 52 standing with the Bat family, I preferred his pre-52 standing; essentially, if brought to the big screen, Jason shouldn’t be on good terms with the Bat family- he should be their enemy who might be required to cooperate with them from time to time; I personally, just loved this as it further emphasised he was the one kid Batman couldn’t help.
Pedro Pascal as Morgan Ducard/Nobody Pascal is a relatively unknown actor, and I admit to having only seen him in
Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe and an episode
Nikita, but with the later in particular he more than proved his talents and essentially auditioned for the role already. There, he played a cold, calculating and manipulative elite assassin who got rid of his victims by dissolving them in acid; essentially a neutral and lighter version of the character, so quite frankly, if cast, I’d love to see what he could do.
Moon Bloodgood as Sandra Wu-San/Shiva Casting this role was a little tough for me given that there are so many popular and well-fitting choices for the role, but ultimately I decided to go differently with Bloodgood. She’s a pretty cool actress, actually comes across as tough and smart, can fight, is exotically hot and very capable with drama. I’m not expecting her to reinvent the wheel, but I can definitely see her kicking ass and making the character shine so would love to see what she could do.
Christoph Waltz as Victor Fries/Mr Freeze Once again, I’m (a little) more inclined to my ‘younger’/original choice of Daniel Craig for the role, but given that this is an older and alternate cast Waltz would be my next choice for it. Now, this might seem like another strange casting decision, but for an older incarnation of the character I really see no other choice than Waltz. He’s a great weird (borderline creepy at times), intellectual actor who’s very, very versatile and more than capable of playing great ruthless, cold and calculating villains. I think he could bring a lot of depth to the role and really make the character very interesting and memorable in a good way, as opposed to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s pun loving take on the character.
Still, worth mentioning, whilst I like the above look of the character I’d like to see more of an
Arkham City influence brought to the big screen; just looks more badass –
Click Here to See Deobia Oparei as Waylon Jones/Killer Croc Oparei is a relatively unknown actor, but he’s not the greatest actor around but he’s got talent and has proven himself to be a pretty capable character and can definitely play more than brainless thugs. He’s capable with drama and comedy and has knack at playing intimidating tough guys, plus he genuinely is just a very big guy and with his roles in films like
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and
Death Race 2 I think it’s safe to say he’d do the job right.
Anyway, once again worth mentioning, whilst I like the above look of the character I’d like to see more of an
Arkham Origins influence brought to the big screen; just looks more badass –
Click Here to See Dylan McDermott as Lincoln March/The Owl King Once again, this might seem like another strange casting choice to some of you guys, but McDermott is a very underrated actor and definitely capable of playing dark characters very, very well. With his work in
Dark Blue,
American Horror Story,
The Campaign and
Olympus Has Fallen it’s clear he can play smart, badass, damaged and calculating all very well and he naturally happens to be very charming and charismatic, so it’s clear he could bring a very deep and multifaceted performance to the table. So, personally speaking, I think McDermott would be great and I dare I say it, ideal choice choice to play the Court of Owls’ lead disciple.
Peter Stormare as Basil Carlo/Clayface Stormare is a really great underrated actor, who has a knack at playing creepy and sleazy bad guys and villains really well. With his work in
Prison Break and
Constantine in particular, I think it’s safe to say he’d absolutely own the role.
Javier Bardem as Bane Replacing Tom Hardy is no easy task but after a long and tough search, but if I’m being realistic, for an older Bane, there is only one choice; Javier [frick]ing Bardem. Since seeing him in
No Country for Old Men and then
Skyfall, I’ve wanted him in the role. He’s badass, intimidating, cold, calculating and manipulative- put simply, a perfect fit for the role, especially given his nationality.
Bérénice Marlohe as Talia Al Ghul What can I say about this? Whilst I only know Marlohe from her work in
Skyfall, there she essentially played Talia already, and even better than Marion Cotilard. She’s hot, exotic and has that femme fatale quality necessary for the role, so put simply, if ever the character is again brought to the big screen then I’d like to see her take on the role, especially given that we’re getting a more established Batman.
Jeremy Irons as Ra’s Al Ghul I get he’s now been cast Alfred (which is really great), but I love Irons as a villain and hell, he’s probably one of the very few actors who could surpass Liam Neeson’s epic portrayal of the leader of the League of Shadows. He’s a great and often underappreciated actor who has a really great knack at playing villains, in particular villains with a strong authoritative presence who are charismatic as well as cold, calculating, manipulative and eerily badass. With his work in
The Lion King,
Die Hard With a Vengeance and
The Borgias in particularly, I think he’d really be great in the role and serve us with a very memorable and dare I say it, maybe even surpassable take on the character than the great Liam Neeson’s.
___________________________ So, that’s my ideal cast for an older Batman. I hope you enjoyed checking it out, and if you did look out for anything else I drop!