From ‘Bridgerton’ to Batman? James Gunn teases DC’s most wicked casting yet with sly Dark Knight endorsement

The DCU has begun, and it’s only going to get bigger — and hopefully better — from here on out. Creatures Commandos, the inaugural entry in James Gunn‘s rebooted DC universe, has officially opened to a flawless 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, ahead of next summer’s much-anticipated Superman. Beyond that? The 105th Batman movie, The Brave and the Bold. Currently, our next Dark Knight remains uncast, but it’s just possible that inspiration has now struck.

Like everyone else, it seems Gunn is suffering from Wicked fever, following the smash-hit Wizard of Oz prequel’s box office popularity. As the head of a studio that will be looking to repeat this kind of success in a mere few months’ time, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Gunn decided to pilfer some key figures from the mega-hit musical. And while, say, Ariana Grande as Zatanna and Cynthia Erivo as Vixen might still happen one day, right now it seems Gunn may be gearing up to cast a certain Bridgerton boy as Batman…

James Gunn teased Jonathan Bailey as the DCU’s Batman, and now it’s the bane of our existence

From the Ton to Gotham, via a stopover in Oz? Prince Fiyero himself ⏤ Jonathan Bailey ⏤ could be on James Gunn’s longlist for hypothetical Justice League heroes, as a rogue like on Bluesky may have let slip the producer/director’s interest in hoovering up Bailey for his DCU. You might want to act fast, James, as something tells us Kevin Feige’s having similar thoughts right now (if you ask us, he’d be a fab addition to Marvel’s rebooted X-Men).

“I think it would be cool if James Gunn found some spot for Jonathan Bailey in the DCU,” read a potentially very telling tweet that Gunn liked on X’s rival platform. “Don’t really know which character but he seems like a massive star in the making. I’m actually surprised he’s not a more popular fancast for Batman.”

I know, I know — Gunn likes a lot of stuff on social media so this isn’t exactly cast-iron evidence that he really is thinking about putting Bailey in the bat-suit. That said, Gunn is very careful not to mislead fans with his online activity, so his like counts for something. Given how he experienced Wicked, it’s easy to see how Gunn could’ve already put Bailey and DC together in his mind before seeing this post.

As @Everything_DCU pointed out, a previous post from Gunn on Bluesky saw him note that he witnessed Wicked on the big screen with his mom in the very same theater in which they saw the original Christopher Reeve Superman in 1979.

Batman would be quite the departure for Bailey, who’s generally been attached to lighter-hearted or more romantic roles to date, but he’s obviously got the looks to be a believable Bruce Wayne and the jawline to wear the cowl. And let’s not forget that Charlie Cox was best known for his own fantasy romance role in Stardust before he proved how gritty he could be in Daredevil. Plus, casting an openly gay actor as the Dark Knight would be a major live-action first (and make Kevin Conroy proud). From one of the biggest Netflix shows on the planet to a record-breaking musical to — maybe, just maybe — moving into the Batcave? Talk about dancing through life.