Now that San Diego is in the rear view mirror for 2013, one can't help but wonder what the thought process was at Warner Brothers in the days that followed. They made a big splash to be sure with the Superman/Batman announcement. They also raised the stakes considerably on their next DC film: it is going to feature DC's (and perhaps Warner's) most important franchise: Batman. Casting a new solo Batman film would be tough enough. The job is made trickier by the fact that he must blend into the new Superman franchise.
Look, WB and DC can not afford to get this wrong. Blow it (and, oh yes, it can be blown - see Clooney in Batman and Robin or Reynolds in Green Lantern) and you waylay not only the newly minted Superman franchise, but also your chances to do anything with Batman or the Justice League for the foreseeable future. Which brings us to Jon Hamm.
1. Bruce Wayne must have gravitas. Hamm has it in spades. He can do dark characters. He has tragedy in his own life he can tap into. Of all the actors who have been speculated on to play this part, Hamm is the only one who can truly bring the presence that playing Bruce Wayne requires. Choose a lesser actor and you really run the risk of going down the Batman and Robin road. Two guys running around in capes is not going to be as easy as Joss Whedon made it seem.
2. Based on the reviews of Superman the consensus seems to be that it could have been a little more fun. Note to screenwriter David Goyer: this script is going to have to take itself a little less seriously. Hamm can do humor. He's hosted SNL fabulously. He has that twinkle in his eye and could make Cavill into a great straight man. (That didn't come out right.)
3. Whoever plays Bruce Wayne is going to have to make us forget Christian Bale. Not completely, but you know what I mean here. He is going to be in his shadow, so you need someone with the supreme confidence and the stage presence to take command of the role and make it his own. Watch Hamm work if you haven't already, and you'll see that he can hit some of the same beats that Bale did, but will always bring his own stuff to a character. Someone is going to have the unenviable task of figuring out how to talk while wearing the cowl without aping Bale's trademark growl. Hamm is up to that task.
4. Viewers of Mad Men are, generally speaking, discerning, cerebral types. The show requires a certain investment from its viewers, which they willingly give. These folks tend to be quite vocal fans of Hamm and are, in a word, tastemakers. Hamm is also well respected in Hollywood, with the LA Times running a piece titled The Case for Jon Hamm, pleading not that he should be cast as Batman, but that he should get his long overdue Emmy! Casting Hamm will create big time buzz and give the film some serious credibility which, let's face it, is sorely needed considering its a sequel to a movie that got a rotten tomato.
5. Finally, and least importantly, he looks the part. He actually may look more like Bruce Wayne than Christian Bale. Sometimes he looks like Wayne as done by Neal Adams, sometimes by Frank Quietly.
Somewhere in Hollywood, there are casting folks making the single biggest decision about this film, and in many respects, about Warner Brothers future with DC films. Get this wrong, and the whole ship sinks. Cavill can not save a film with the wrong actor cast opposite him. No offense to him, but he is not that guy. This has to be just right. And Jon Hamm is the right guy for the job.