After the tumultuous few months that The Batman had at the start of the year, everything seems to be settled now on the Caped Crusader’s upcoming solo outing. A director’s in place, in the form of Matt Reeves, and sources say the script is being re-written. In fact, it’s being changed quite heavily, from what we’ve heard, as Deathstroke won’t be the main villain anymore. Reports say that Black Mask is going to take charge now and that the film could feature a whole ensemble of the Dark Knight’s most formidable opponents.
While the studio hasn’t commented on any of that just yet, it’s an intriguing direction for The Batman to head in and could mean we’ll be seeing some iconic villains entering the DC Extended Universe quite soon. As of now, all we can do is speculate as to which characters Reeves will be introducing audiences to come 2018 (or perhaps 2019 – the release date hasn’t been locked down yet), but the rumor mill has been sent into overdrive today thanks to a cryptic Tweet from Josh Gad.
Perhaps best known for his Disney roles in Frozen and Beauty and the Beast, the actor posted a photo of classic Batman villain the Penguin on Twitter earlier today. No caption accompanied the Tweet, but you can check it out below and see what you make of it.
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) May 2, 2017
As is always the case, the Tweet spurred fans into detective mode, and some snooping around has now resulted in something very interesting. Both Jon Berg and Geoff Johns, two head honchos over at DC, have followed Gad on Twitter recently. While this may mean nothing – and most likely does – it’s important to note that there’s precedence for this type of thing leading to official confirmations. After all, both Joe Manganiello and Rick Famuyiwa were followed by prominent DC figures shortly before they signed on for roles in the company’s cinematic universe.
Still, it’s best to not get too excited just yet, as if Gad really was playing the Penguin, we doubt he’d be allowed to Tweet about it. Then again, who knows? Perhaps DC wants to generate some excitement and hype before they make things official? Right now, it’s impossible to say and as always, we’ll leave it up to you to decide if there’s anything worth reading into here. That being said, we should mention that recent reports stated The Batman is still a long ways away from the casting process, which does throw all this into question.
Could Gad be suiting up as the Penguin in another film then? Perhaps, and we wouldn’t rule something like Gotham City Sirens out of the picture – or even an animated effort. Regardless of where the actor shows up though – granted this all pans out, of course – he’d be an excellent addition to the DC Extended Universe and it’d be great to see him use his talents in something a bit darker and more gritty, as most of his work has been comedic and family oriented.
As always, we’ll be sure you bring you more as soon as we have it, but until further updates arise, tell us, would you like to see Josh Gad play the Penguin in The Batman, or another DC film, for that matter? Let us know in the usual place!
