Earlier this week, John Campea shared in his YouTube series, "The John Campea Show," that "The Batman" director Matt Reeves supposedly already found the perfect actor who could replace Ben Affleck as the Caped Crusader of DC Extended Universe. After initially refraining from doing so, the vlogger has finally revealed who the mystery A-list actor is.
According to Campea, Reeves' top pick is none other than Jake Gyllenhaal. Sources told him, "Yes, that is the name that's been floated, there have been some conversations, but it's not a sure thing that this is happening."
Affleck's exit was reportedly decided upon back in February but was being held back for public relations purposes in the run-up to "Justice League's" release this week. Again, Warner Bros has yet to confirm any of this, so it is best to take this with a grain of salt. However, his casting might not be far-fetched.
Gyllenhaal actually auditioned for the eponymous role when Christopher Nolan was casting "Batman Begins." The part went to Christian Bale while his sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal, ended up playing Bruce Wayne's love interest in its sequel "The Dark Knight."
The "Southpaw" star was also considered for the part of Spider-Man when Tobey Maguire got injured while filming "Seabiscuit," so his desire to portray a superhero is well-documented at this point.
Should this rumor be accurate, Campea says there are two options being considered as to how Gyllenhaal would be brought in: Reeve's "Batman" film would be set outside the DC extended universe (DCEU) or the upcoming film would be set in the past, earlier on Batman's career and before the events of "Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice."
There's a sizable nine-year age difference between the Gyllenhaal, 36, and Affleck, 45. Comic Book reports that is already enough age gap to revisit an earlier point in the Dark Knight's career and convincingly make the switch.
Still, there is a possibility that Affleck will return as Bruce Wayne in "The Batman" and maybe pass his cape down to another character. DCEU producer Charles Roven recently said he is confident Affleck will reprise his role in Reeves' film. But, he did note that he is not producing that movie, so things may end up differently.
Roven was initially attached to direct and co-write "The Batman," but he withdrew from the project back in January. Reeves was brought in after and started over with a new script.
