Those tantalizing rumors regarding Armie Hammer possibly replacing Ben Affleck in The Batman aren't true. While it had been suspected for a long time, it was recently confirmed that Affleck is no longer going to portray the Caped Crusader in the DC movie universe, paving the way for a new actor to step in and take up the mantle. Recently, rumors popped up that stated Armie Hammer, star of Call Me By Your Name and The Man From U.N.C.L.E., was in final talks to be that actor. Now, he's stepped in personally to debunk that rumor.
This originated with a report from Revenge of the Fans and was quickly picked up by a number of outlets. Fans on social media also jumped on the rumor rather feverishly. Before things spiraled too out of control, Armie Hammer spoke in an interview to declare with certainty that he is not going to be our new Batman and that nobody with any power has actually reached out to him about it. Here's what he had to say.
"No one who can actually give me the job has asked me if I'm interested. I don't even know if they're done, I think they're still working on a script. I don't think that they're close to production but I can conclusively tell you that no one has checked my availability, which is a bummer."
Even prior to Armie Hammer making this statement, a number of reporters took to social media to debunk the rumor. Hammer is 32-years-old and it's been stated several times that director Matt Reeves is looking to cast a younger version of Bruce Wayne for his movie, which will be a noir take that will focus on the DC icon's skills as a detective. While Hammer is younger than Ben Affleck, he's apparently not quite what Reeves is looking for and, for the moment, there are no official names in the mix.
It's understandable that Armie Hammer possibly taking on the role would get people excited. Back in 2007, Mad Max: Fury Road director George Miller was deep into pre-production, and very near cameras rolling, on a movie titled Justice League: Mortal, which would have been the first live-action version of the DC team to hit the big screen. Hammer had been cast as Batman in that movie which, sadly, never saw the light of day. Had these rumors proved to be true, it would have brought things full circle. Poetic as it may have been, it's not happening.
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Matt Reeves is currently getting the script in shape and it's expected that the movie will begin production before the year is up. That means we should be hearing some actual names pop up in the relatively near future. Maybe Warner Bros. will aim for a splashy San Diego Comic-Con announcement? The Batman is set to hit theaters on June 25, 2021. This news was first reported by Yahoo.
