Josh Brolin Wanted to Play Old Batman

The one time frontrunner for the new Batman offers more insight.

By TwistedKingdom - Dec 13, 2013 11:12 AM EST
Filed Under: Batman
Source: latimes.com



Brolin recently spoke with The Los Angeles Times to promote his new film "Labor Day". During the interview, the Oscar nominated actor's involvement in the "Man of Steel" sequel briefly came up…

BROLIN: ...That whole thing was weird. You read stuff like, "I wish Ben Affleck would die." It's Armageddon because he's going to play Batman. What's happening? You can't listen to any of it. It's like a kid in a cereal aisle screaming, "I want Froot Loops!" You just let him have his tantrum and scream it out.

LA TIMES: Were you interested in the role?

BROLIN: What I liked was the logline: "An older, grizzly Batman ..." That was interesting to me. I haven't seen that. They've taken the one age and elongated it and franchised it as much as possible. Forget the director, I like the idea of this being a grizzled, wiser mentor type. Then it became not interesting to me. But I'll still watch it to see how grizzled Affleck turns out.

LA TIMES: Who knows, you could still play a get-off-my-lawn Batman someday.

BROLIN: Yes! I'm waiting to play the really grizzled old Batman when I'm 70.
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MrReese
MrReese - 12/13/2013, 12:03 PM
Affleck will OWN!
TopCat89
TopCat89 - 12/13/2013, 12:16 PM
I reckon he would of made a great, in his words "wiser, grizzled" Batman/Bruce Wayne. He can play the billionaire act....check him out in 'Wall Street:Money Never Sleeps'. Would of been Interesting to see his take on Batman!

@MrFirdayNight

He's a good actor, great at times, i personally keep an eye out for any movie of his released.
TopCat89
TopCat89 - 12/13/2013, 12:18 PM
@SlaveMaster

Agree, a perfect cast for 'The Dark Knight Returns'
KraftB0X
KraftB0X - 12/13/2013, 12:36 PM
Such a shame as I think he would have been perfect for the casting.
" Yes! I'm waiting to play the really grizzled old Batman when I'm 70"= even better choice for Bruce Wayne in a Batman Beyond movie!!! Plan it for 2020+, WB!!!!!
Greengo
Greengo - 12/13/2013, 12:40 PM
Josh Brolin is starting to annoy.
l0rdleg0las
l0rdleg0las - 12/13/2013, 2:21 PM
If Brolin had gotten the part he could perfectly mess with Superman's head with 1 line, "I [frick]ed your mom!"
SuperCat
SuperCat - 12/13/2013, 2:32 PM
Didn't want him as Batman anyway.
BritishMonkey
BritishMonkey - 12/13/2013, 2:49 PM
He would've been perfect. Ben will still be good though.
MrCameron
MrCameron - 12/13/2013, 3:39 PM
If Marvel ever does anything with The Punisher they should snag him for that tole.
sameoldthing
sameoldthing - 12/13/2013, 3:41 PM
Brolin is a cool guy.
Forget all this Batman / Superman nonsense..maybe in 10 yrs we will get a direct adaptation of The Dark Knight Rerurns & Brolib can play Bats then.
JasonBlue
JasonBlue - 12/13/2013, 3:49 PM
OK two clues he has given us in this interview:

1. I like the idea of this being a grizzled, wiser mentor type .

I'm thinking... the future bat franchises will be introducing all the batkids to the audience including Jason Tod, Nightwing, Batgirl (who will turn into Oracle after being shot by Joker), and eventually lead into Terry's Batman Beyond where Ben Affleck doesn't have to play batman he can just "mentor" him.... get it?

2. "Then it became not interesting to me".

This is clearly because of his personal issues with his wife's involvement in the Superman universe. He clearly was very interested but obviously couldn't pursue it with that hanging over his head. Also I think Warner Bros preferred Ben Affleck cause when I went to visit the WB studios they treated Ben and his work as on par with the TDKR franchise... and considering Ben can take on the batman franchise as both an actor, writer and director, its a better package and more valuable to WB than Brolin.
JasonBlue
JasonBlue - 12/13/2013, 3:52 PM
Also... with the previous rumors about Batman Beyond being in development... an older Batman may be done on purpose to lead into the Batman Beyond franchise. So when Batman is off saving the world/universe with the Justice League... Terry and Nightwing are off protecting Gotham.
JasonBlue
JasonBlue - 12/13/2013, 4:06 PM


BRING IT
TwistedKingdom
TwistedKingdom - 12/13/2013, 4:42 PM
@ JasonBlue

The cowl/helmet makes him look like Owl-Man. Is that concept art legit? If it is, I've got a feeling it's going to be pulled real soon.
JasonBlue
JasonBlue - 12/13/2013, 5:17 PM
@Twisted

Yeah it is... it was leaked a while back
guillimunster
guillimunster - 12/13/2013, 5:52 PM
Vato Man and his homeboy Ruben!
JasonBlue
JasonBlue - 12/13/2013, 5:56 PM
Notice in the photo i posted above how the instructions at the bottom say "Texture should seperate batman from rest of the JLA and Superman!"

:O
Cayo
Cayo - 12/13/2013, 10:51 PM
Am I the only one who isn't fond of what artwork? Too much like Nolan's version and the front of the cowl is just...ugh. Gives it and Injustice look, which is pretty awkward looking when on the big screen. Hopefully it's just for a prequel comic or something. Just not the movie suit.
Cayo
Cayo - 12/13/2013, 10:54 PM
I'd love to see Brolin as an older TDKR Batman in the future, as long as it's a 80%-ish dedicated adaptation of the comic that is.
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