Nightwing Director Shuts Down Rumors That Zac Efron Has Clinched The Title Role

Not so fast, folks.

Amid rumors that Zac Efron (Baywatch, The Greatest Showman) had been cast to play Dick Grayson for Warner Bros. and DC Films, Nightwing director Chris McKay has taken to Twitter in order to set the record straight.

As reported by ComicBook.com, McKay was asked straight-up whether the speculation was on-point, to which he replied: “not true.” And that’s it, really. No firm casting details, no comment about the status of pre-production, and definitely no mention of the film’s plot.

And, frankly, that’s not all that surprising after we learned back in February that Chris McKay had come into contention to helm Warner’s long-in-development Dungeons & Dragons movie. Providing he signs along the dotted line, it’ll only push Nightwing further down the pecking order, leading many to fear that Dick Grayson’s big-screen debut is years down the line.

Don’t take this tidbit as gospel, though, as Warner Bros. hasn’t released anything regarding Nightwing in quite some time. And perhaps that’s telling in and of itself?

With projects like Aquaman and Shazam! already in the can, now to mention direct sequels to both Wonder Woman and David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, Warner Bros. is clearly juggling a ton of DC-related projects, which doesn’t necessarily leave a lot of room for ol’ Dick Grayson. And that’s before we even factor in those Harley Quinn-fronted pics like Gotham City Sirens and Birds of Prey, the latter of which appears to have been fast-tracked by Warner.

Be that as it may, we’ll be keeping a close eye on Chris McKay’s standalone Nightwing movie as more information comes to light.