James Gunn is busy shooting SUPERMAN, though fans remain keen to see who the DC Studios co-CEO casts as the DCU's Batman. The Brave and the Bold is somewhere on the horizon - with The Flash's Andy Muschietti attached to direct - but with The Batman II shifting to 2026, who knows when we'll see it.
The common sense approach would have arguably been to either find a way to bring Robert Pattinson's Batman into the DCU or to just leave that movie as a standalone feature (similar to how Joker was originally conceived) and start fresh.
Now, though, we'll soon have two different actors sharing the role of Bruce Wayne in theaters.
Will that confuse moviegoers? It's hard to say, but in an interview with Screen Rant, Road House star Jake Gyllenhaal was asked if he'd be interested in playing Batman after the site compared his role in the upcoming Prime Video title to the Dark Knight.
"Oh, man. That’s a classic. It’s an honor," he tells the site. "Speaking of playing roles that other incredible actors have played in the past, to me actually roles that other incredible actors have played in the past, which, to me, actually, when I think about it, I’m going to play Iago in Othello with Denzel Washington, and I think about like the history of actors that have played that role throughout time, and I’m intimidated by that."
"So that’s the first level. That’s what I’m working on right now. But of course. It would be an honor always," Gyllenhaal adds. "Those types of things and those roles are classics."
Some time ago, The Dark Knight writer David S. Goyer revealed that he "advocated for Gyllenhaal" to play the title character in 2005's Batman Begins. "I mean, Gyllenhaal’s amazing," he said. "Christian Bale’s amazing, so who knows what."
The actor came close to replacing Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 2 after he injured his back working on Seabiscuit and later joined the MCU as Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home. There were rumblings Gyllenhaal was being eyed to return in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but for now, Quentin Beck remains dead.
He is, however, expected to make an appearance in What If...? season 3 where he'll presumably be voiced by the Road House star.
Do you think Gyllenhaal would be a good fit for Batman in the new DCU? As always, let us know in the comments section below.