It's been an eventful week in the way of blockbuster casting news, and as it happens, the fun's not quite over. After learning that Zack Snyder's Man of Steel sequel Batman Vs. Superman might include former Batman sidekick Dick Grayson (formerly known as Robin, who went on to fight crime on his own as Nightwing), an apparent frontrunner for the role emerged in the form of Girls star Adam Driver.

While we here at Screen Rant have our own ideas about who could play Nightwing, two more actors have reportedly joined Driver on the studio's shortlist. According to  an as-yet unconfirmed source at Superhero Movie News, the current list has a total of six actors, with two more names revealed as serious contenders: Penn Badgley and Ezra Miller.

Penn Bagley is best known for his former role on Gossip Girl, but he ventured into more serious terrain as a young stockbroker in Margin Call and as late singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley in Greetings from Tim Buckley. Ezra Miller's first major role was as the recurring boyfriend of David Duchovy's daughter on Showtime's Californication, went on to co-star in The Perks of Being A Wallflower and mined his considerable dark side as a disturbed youth in We Need To Talk About Kevin.

Since this news comes from an unnamed source with no official confirmation available, take it with some salt, as always. The addition of Bagley and Miller to the shortlist points toward a variety of different kind of actors Warner Bros. is looking at for the role, which leads us to wonder: What kind of Nightwing will we see in Batman vs. Superman? While Adam Driver is easily a physical match for returning Superman Henry Cavill and new Batman Ben Affleck, both Badgley and Miller stand under six feet and are noticeably slighter. That said, they do all share a similarly hipster look and tend to gravitate toward indie roles.

Ezra Miller_Penn Badgley Nightwing

If the rumors are true, we know that this Nightwing will be estranged from Batman, with the two evidently not on speaking terms after some kind of falling out which has yet to be revealed. That's all we have in the way of potential plot points, but many details about the character remain unknown: Did this version of Dick Grayson start his vigilante career as Batman's sidekick and, if so, was he Robin?

In the comic books, Grayson once patrolled the streets of Blüdhaven (before it was laid to waste in Infinite Crisis), which neighbors Gotham City - will the film retain this aspect of the character, giving him a physical remove from Batman? Or will there even be enough time for details like that?

While the physical differences between Badgley, Miller and Driver may be rendered moot by Hollywood magic and the actors' approach to the role, the age differences of the names involved is intriguing: at 21, Ezra Miller is significantly younger than the 27-year-old Bagley and the 29-year-old Driver. This is pure speculation, but could Miller actually be sought for a current, younger Robin? A 21-year-old seems a bit young to be a distant and jaded superhero... but that might be exactly the point.

Since there are three other names on this reported shortlist, stay tuned for more news on a potential Nightwing.

_____

Batman vs. Superman will be released on July 17th, 2015.

Source: Superhero Movie News