THE HOBBIT Actor Richard Armitage Confirms That He Was On The Shortlist To Play BATMAN
Before Ben Affleck landed the role of The Batman, there were rumors that Richard Armitage had also been in line to don the cape 'n cowl, and now the actor has confirmed that this was indeed the case...
You may remember whispers of Richard Armitage (The Hobbit, Ocean's 8) being on the shortlist to take over from Christian Bale as Batman leading up to the announcement that Ben Affleck had won the part, and now the actor has confirmed that he was actually among the final handful of thesps to test for the role.
"There was a little flurry once upon a time just after I'd come out of The Hobbit where I auditioned for Batman," Armitage revealed to Digital Spy. "It was at the same time that Christian Bale was leaving, there were about five or six actors that were in line for that character, so I went through quite a process with that."
Armitage has yet to portray a superhero on the big screen, but it sounds like voicing Logan for Marvel's Wolverine: The Long Night scripted podcast has piquied his interest in potentially entering that world. If not Batman, is there a chance he could inherit the claws from Hugh Jackman, perhaps?
"It would be a tall order, wouldn't it, to follow Hugh Jackman's performance? We look a little bit alike, which I think would be a bit weird. But of course it would be amazing. It's a great character, a really great character."
What do you guys think? Could you see Armitage as Batman? Word has it that Matt Reeves is casting a younger incarnation of The Dark Knight for his film, so that's probably a long shot - but how about Wolverine?
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About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.