Reportedly, two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali was Matt Reeves’ first pick to play Commissioner Gordon in his upcoming reboot ‘The Batman’, but with the recent announcement that Ali will play a new version of ‘Blade’ for Marvel Studios, that opportunity may be off the table.
On The Sneider Cut podcast, Jeff Sneider reported:
“Now that he’s got his own Marvel movie, I don’t know that he’s looking to do yet another comic book movie. But I’m pretty sure he was Matt Reeves’ first choice for Commissioner Gordon in The Batman.”
According to Sneider, Reeves and Ali actually met to discuss the role and the film.
Of course, doing a Marvel movie doesn’t mean that an actor can’t do a DC/Warner Bros. movie, especially in a supporting role. In fact, the most recent Commissioner Gordon, J.K. Simmons, who appeared in ‘Justice League’, also popped up in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ as J. Jonah Jameson, after having previously played that role in ‘Spider-Man’ 1-3, which were not part of the MCU. Then again, any upcoming ‘Spider-Man’ movies won’t be part of the MCU either, so that won’t be a conflict.
In addition to that, earlier this year, Djimon Hounsou portrayed Korath the Pursuer in ‘Captain Marvel’ and the Wizard in ‘Shazam!’, and before that, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje starred in ‘Suicide Squad’ (Killer Croc) and ‘Thor: The Dark World’ (Algrim).
It was recently rumored that Reeves was eyeing John David Washington for an undisclosed role in ‘The Batman’. If Ali is no longer in the running to play Gordon, could Washington be his replacement?
So far, only Robert Pattinson has been cast for ‘The Batman’, in the lead. The film is also expected to include Gordon, Alfred, possibly Robin, Catwoman, Firefly, The Mad Hatter, The Penguin, The Riddler, and Two-Face. Supposedly, Reeves would like a “Zoë Kravitz type” for the role of Catwoman. Not all of the villains will have major roles. Reportedly, The Riddler will be the film’s main antagonist, with the others just filling in the background, with the possibility of being featured in sequels.
‘The Batman’ is expected to begin filming this fall. It will be released on June 25, 2021.
Source: ComicBook.com
