Whenever James Gunn announces the identity of the actor playing Batman in The Brave of the Bold, not only will they be joining some illustrious names in throwing on the cape and cowl, but they’ll also be the ninth different person to have played the role in a little over a decade.
By the time The Flash finally comes to theaters this summer, we’ll have seen Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, Robert Pattinson, and Michael Keaton suited and booted on the big screen, while Kevin Conroy, David Miller, Warren Christie, and Iain Glen have also been seen as Bruce Wayne sans his signature outfit on television.
The twist this time around is that the Dark Knight will be portrayed as a father in a live-action blockbuster for the first time, with Damien Wayne set to make his DCU debut. That means the casting process will need to revolve around someone the right age to conceivably play dad to a teenager, but one who can also handle themselves when it comes to the action sequences.
That sounds an awful lot like 46 year-old martial arts veteran and genre titan Scott Adkins, who can currently be seen buried under a mountain of prosthetics in John Wick: Chapter 4 as Killa. He auditioned for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – and has been a popular candidate among fans ever since – but in an interview with ScreenRant, he played down his chances of returning to the well.
“I’ll just say no. I’ll just go with no. I’ll just be happy to get some nice roles in bigger movies. Big movies like John Wick. We’ll leave it at that.”
A proven ass-kicker with decades of experience that isn’t quite a household name, Adkins would be an inspired – if unexpected – choice to headline The Brave and the Bold. We’ll just have to wait and see who ends up snagging the coveted part, but maybe he’s merely downplaying his interest for now.
