Our new Superman, David Corenswet, is already taking flight — production on the new movie is underway in Norway — but James Gunn still has his work cut out for him in finding the right person to rival Robert Pattinson as the nth new version of Batman. Although maybe the perfect choice is right in front of him.
Jake Gyllenhaal — who was a runner-up for Spider-Man back in Tobey Maguire’s day, don’t forget — was asked during the Road House press tour if he’d be up for playing the Dark Knight in director Andy Muschietti’s The Brave and the Bold, which will center on a fortysomething Bruce Wayne bonding with his son, Damian/Robin. The former Mysterio admitted that “It would be an honor,” and, well, I rest my case. Why hasn’t Gunn given him a call already?
Do you want more proof that Gyllenhaal would be perfect for the role? He’s confirmed to have more star power and audience appeal than one of the few DC heroes already cast in Gunn’s rebooted universe, Peacemaker‘s John Cena. Why? Because he’s smashed the former WWE star into second place on the streaming charts.
Road House roasting Ricky Stanicky is more proof a new Batman deserves to begin
It’s official, Prime Video users just can’t get enough of Road House as the action drama has successfully KO-ed the competition to take the top spot on the platform’s charts. As per Flix Patrol, the Jake Gyllenhaal-starring remake is currently the most-watched movie title on Prime the world over. It’s so popular that it’s even helped launch the Patrick Swayze original as high as fourth place on the global ranking. As per Variety, Road House accrued an impressive 121.5 million minutes viewed on its first day alone.
Meanwhile, over in second place is Ricky Stanicky, a bro-y comedy film from Peter Farrelly (one half of the Farrelly brothers) that seems to have fallen through a time warp from the early 2010s. Zac Efron is ostensibly in the lead but it’s really John Cena’s movie, seeing as he is the title character — an actor hired to play Efron’s imaginary best friend. Cena’s really proved himself as an actor over the past few years, but even he apparently isn’t able to beat Gyllenhaal at his brutal, bare-chested best.
There’s really only one message for James Gunn to take from all this, then. The guy is willing and the people love him, so please, mister, cast Jake Gyllenhaal as Batman immediately. Sony and Marvel bizarrely don’t seem keen to bring him back into the Spider-Verse, so their loss could be DC’s gain if Gunn and company play their cards right. Hold up, play… cards… playing cards. Forget everything I just said, what about casting Gyllenhaal as the Joker? Or maybe both Batman and the Joker? Now that’s something we haven’t seen before…