Jon Hamm rumored to be gunning for Ben Affleck's Batman role
Ben Affleck has problems.
Or maybe not, depending on how eager he is to escape his role as the DC Extended Universe's Batman.
Word came today via Variety detailing that Warner Bros. is planning a major shakeup for the DCEU following a lackluster box-office performance from Justice League. The report also supports last month's rumbles that director Matt Reeves is shopping for a new lead for The Batman.
While Ben Affleck is expected to appear as Batman in a standalone Flash movie, it is highly unlikely he will don the cape and cowl in Matt Reeves’ planned standalone Batman movie. The director is said to want to cast the role with fresh talent, according to sources.
This would seem to give more credence to Wednesday's report from Radar Online that Mad Men star Jon Hamm is gunning for the role. According to Radar's source, Hamm has been “carefully courting” Reeves for months and that those feelings are mutual.
“Matt thinks Jon is charming and was a big fan of Mad Men, so it seems like a great transition to him,” the source said.
“Jake Gyllenhaal has also been chasing the role, and Matt has definitely been considering him. But Jon is closer to Ben’s age and look, and will be a smoother replacement to fit into the plans already in place.”
Take it all with a boulder of salt, but there's a lot of smoke here. Hamm and Affleck are apparently pretty good friends going back to their time starring together in the Affleck's 2010 film The Town. Hamm has also starred alongside Justice League's Wonder Woman in Gal Gadot. The pair played a spy power couple in the semi-humorous comedy Keeping Up with the Joneses .
Still in pre-production, The Batman unsurprisingly has no release date in sight.
