Reacher is currently in the midst of its third season, which has unsurprisingly landed at the #1 spot on Amazon Prime Video. The show has quickly elevated star Alan Ritchson in Hollywood, and now he’s looking for even bigger roles on film, instead of just TV. Namely, Batman in the DCU.
Ritchson is pretty much campaigning for the part at this point. In a previous interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ritchson said, “”I would love to play Batman. There, I said it. I’ll shout it from the rooftops—’I want to be Bruce Wayne!'” He goes on to say he loves his superpower being intelligence, plus all his cool toys in his Batcave.
Now, Ritchson has once again circled back around to this in a new video with Wired, in which he says “You wouldn’t even have to pay me” to play the DCU’s Batman. So, what chance of this is there?
- The DCU does need its own Batman. It has been made perfectly clear at this point that The Batman’s Robert Pattinson will not be the DCU’s Batman and will remain separate in his sequel that still seems years away.
- There has been a lot of fan support for Ritchson as Batman, given his personal popularity and the high profile of Reacher.
- There is precedent for Batman being on the rather large, hugely muscular side. Ben Affleck’s Batman in the DCEU certainly moved in that direction. The new Absolute Batman is literally a brick wall.
- Ritchson is big but he wouldn’t be towering over Superman. Though shot as being super huge on the show (and he’s certainly jacked) Ritchson is “only” 6’3, while David Corenswet’s Superman is at least an inch taller at 6’4.
- Ritchson has superhero experience in droves. He played Aquaman in Smallville way back in the day (and he certainly still looks like he’d make a good Arthur Curry), and more recently he played Hawk in Titans, though I’m pretty sure he was killed off there because he was heading over to Reacher.
So, Ritchson? I’m not sure. I have to believe he’ll at least audition and be considered given how high profile he is. But while fan campaigning can work out sometimes (see Aaron Pierre, who fans thought should be Green Lantern after his turn in Rebel Ridge, and a month later, he was), actors campaigning for themselves works out far less often. I’m not saying Ritchson shouldn’t be doing this as it’s great to have excitement for a role and to shoot your shot, but it doesn’t often come to pass.
I’m down for it. He’d be an unconventional choice to be sure, but I think he’d bring the passion the part needs, and certainly the physicality.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
