So it’s looking more and more likely, Ben Affleck will be walking away from all things Bat, I wanted to toss out my TOP 5 CHOICES – ACTORS WHO CAN REPLACE BEN AS BRUCE.
Using Screen Rant’s list, I’ve chosen the guys below. Who do you guys think could wear the cowl next?
#5 Richard Armitage (Strike Back/The Hobbit)
It was widely rumored that British actor Richard Armitage was one of the frontrunners to play Bruce Wayne in 2016’s Batman v Superman mash-up before Zack Snyder and co. decided to hand the role to Ben Affleck.
It’s easy to imagine the rough-but-handsome Armitage at home in the Batcave, plotting a campaign of terror on Gotham’s criminal underworld. He’s big and rugged, but also handsome and charming. He would make a suitable choice to play that most famous of costumed heroes.
#4 Karl Urban (Dredd/Star Trek)
One of this generation’s coolest actors Karl Urban is probably best known to casual audiences as Lenard “Bones” McCoy in the recent Star Trek films. He also starred in the cult classic action flick, Dredd, based on the 2000 AD comic series. Like Batman, Judge Dredd is a dispenser of brutal justice with overtly fascistic overtones. However, unlike Batman, Dredd isn’t an outlaw vigilante but a fully legal judge, jury, and executioner… mostly the last one.
In some ways, Dredd can be seen as Urban’s audition to play the type of no-holds-barred Batman that would make even Ben Affleck’s kill-happy version of the character tremble with fear. Urban is an undeniable shoo-in for the Batman side of the equation, but can he handle the Bruce Wayne persona? There’s little in the New Zealander’s resume that paints him as the aristocratic type, but an actor as skilled as Urban is a safe bet to surprise audiences with unexpected versatility.
#3 Luke Evans (Fast and Furious 6/Beauty & The Beast)
One of the most reliable and hard-working actors out there today, Luke Evans is an actor who can do pretty much anything. In films like Fast & Furious 6 and Dracula Untold, he kicked a whole lot of butt so he’s got the action credibility. In the often-overlooked 2011 version of The Three Musketeers he displayed a distinctly Errol Flynn-brand of romantic swagger as Aramis, the charming leading man. Most recently, Evans showed a menacingly brooding side as a trigger-tempered angry husband in The Girl on the Train.
Combine all of these disparate elements, and you have an actor who can absolutely pull off the many sides of Bruce Wayne/Batman.
#2 Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain/Donnie Darko)
Some younger readers might not remember this, but Jake Gyllenhaal nearly replaced Tobey Maguire during production of Spider-Man 2. The legend goes that Maguire had a back injury which threatened to delay filming (or was holding out for more money…Hollywood legend gets murky around this sort of thing), and Sony very nearly ditched him for the erstwhile Donnie Darko. Eventually, cooler heads prevailed, and Tobey found the heart to play the wall-crawler again.
Now, the actor is 36 years old, a bit younger than Ben Affleck, but old enough to confidently wear the legendary cowl. Gyllenhaal has the looks and the acting chops to make a convincing Bruce Wayne, and he was said to be a front runner to play the character in Batman Begins, but lost out to Christian Bale. Since then, Gyllenhaal has expressed an interest in playing the character, so he might be the best bet to pick up the Bat-torch, provided Ben Affleck decides he doesn’t want to stick around.
And my #1…JON HAMM!
Back in the day, Jon Hamm was a popular fan choice to play Superman in Man of Steel. The fandom liked the idea of a 40-year-old Supes, and Hamm was just about the hunkiest guy around. While the film ultimately elected to task the younger Henry Cavill with playing the Last Son of Krypton, they did opt for a slightly older actor, Ben Affleck, when putting together the sequel, Batman v Superman.
So, Jon Hamm didn’t get to play Superman but maybe it’s not too late for him to play DC’s other heavy hitter. During his tenure on AMC’s game-changing series, Mad Men, Jon Hamm proved himself to be the kind of adaptable actor who can handle any situation thrown at him.