Following the announcement of Robert Pattinson as the title character in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, any news on the upcoming reboot went virtually silent for months. However, in recent weeks, there’s been a flurry of developments on the casting front, with new stars being added to the project with increasing regularity.
After Jonah Hill decided to drop out of negotiations, Paul Dano was drafted in as the Riddler, with Jeffrey Wright also boarding the movie as Commissioner Gordon and Zoe Kravitz suiting up as Catwoman. Not long after, Reeves’ Planet of the Apes cohort Andy Serkis signed on to play Bruce Wayne’s loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth, with Colin Farrell set to twirl the umbrella of the Penguin.
That already makes for an impressive ensemble full of established and talented actors, but the most recent name to join The Batman is a complete unknown. Jayme Lawson, who recently graduated from prestigious drama school Juilliard, was cast in what was described as a ‘key role’ last week and a new report says that she’s set to play Barbara Gordon, who’s also known as her costumed alter-ego Batgirl.
Though this report remains unconfirmed, it would certainly make sense. After all, they wouldn’t have announced Lawson as having a key role in The Batman if she wasn’t playing an important supporting character, and she’s definitely in the right age range to portray the daughter of the 53 year-old Jeffrey Wright. Quite how heavily Barbara Gordon will figure into the story, if that’s even the role she’s playing, though, is unknown at this point, but the movie certainly seems to be loading up on familiar characters and right now, it seems a safe bet that’s who the actress will be playing.
Despite the cast of The Batman firming up recently, there’s still little in the way of plot specifics outside of what we already know, that being that the latest reboot for the Dark Knight will be a noir-inspired detective story. Expect more news to come out in the immediate future though as the movie gears up to start shooting to meet a June 2021 release date.
