Are These Actors Being Considered To Play Batman In Man Of Steel 2?

In the words of The Lion King’s Timon, “It starts.” 

The Superman/Batman film may have just been announced and the script probably doesn’t even exist yet, but that won’t stop people from trying to guess who the next Batman is. As has been previously mentioned, Man of Steel director Zack Snyder is looking at Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns comic as inspiration for the sequel. That would mean an older Batman could be cast and The Hollywood Reporter says these are the men being considered:

Josh Brolin, 46 —  Warner Bros likes him a lot. He starred in the studio’s Gangster Squad, and that’s after he toplined the studio’s 2010 dud Jonah Hex. He’s also attached to star in Warners’ Quasimodo project as well as Crazy for the Storm. Plus, he already has a Frank Miller connection: he leads the cast of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Robert Rodriguez’s upcoming take on the Miller crime comics.
(Two sources say Brolin is the frontrunner at this stage, but a studio source dismisses the chatter, saying that the casting process hasn’t even begun.)
Ryan Gosling, 32 — Yes, Brolin’s Gangster Squad co-star appears to be in the mix. He may be younger than the rest, he may be prettier than the rest, but no one questions his acting chops.
Joe Manganiello, 36  — According to several insiders, Snyder liked him as a possible Superman for Man of Steel before settling on Henry Cavill, but one major stumbling block was the schedule that Alan Ball had him on for filming True Blood, the HBO vampire series in which Manganiello plays a werewolf.
Richard Armitage, 41 — The British actor appeared in TV’s Strike Back, but may be best known to audiences for playing Thorin in the Hobbit movie for Warners’ New Line division. He will reprise the characters for the second and third installments.
Max Martini, 43 — He cut his teeth playing tough guys on TV in shows such as Revenge, Castle and Hawaii Five-O but won notice as a sacrificing father in Pacific Rim and will play a Navy SEAL commander in this fall’s Captain Phillips.
Matthew Goode, 35 — He’s already worked with Snyder in the director’s 2009 filmWatchmen, in which he played Ozymandias.

Do with these rumors as you will.

Over at io9, they reference a post from The Independent saying there’s going to be some creator meetings happening soon. A source told them, “Frank [Miller] had no idea the announcement in San Diego was going to happen so it did come as a surprise. He’s going to be meeting up with Zack in the next few days to go over the plans for the Superman film so things should be clearer after that.”

Could you see any of the actors named as an older Batman?  Is the DKR Batman even one you’d want to see on screen?

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

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