While promoting Not Okay, Dylan O’Brien reveals how he really feels about those persistent Nightwing rumors. Fans have continuously waited for O’Brien to play a superhero movie character. Early in his career, during the search for a young actor to play the MCU’s Spider-Man, O’Brien’s name frequently came up as a worthwhile candidate. Since then, the Teen Wolf alum has been falsely rumored to play the Flash, but more than any other comic book character, O’Brien is frequently cited by fans as the right performer to portray Nightwing in a live-action film.
Those calls hit a fever pitch earlier this year, leading O’Brien to repeat his stance on the superhero genre. He’s long argued that, although he understands the appeal of the genre, he would be much more content to have a relatively smaller profile that would allow him to focus on the projects he’s most passionate about. In new remarks, O’Brien is opening up about how easy it has been for fan castings to morph into endless rumors that need to be debunked.
In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant to promote Not Okay, which is currently streaming on Hulu, O’Brien discusses why the Nightwing rumors bothered him, and how that connects to his new movie. Written and directed by Quinn Shephard, with O’Brien in a supporting role as Colin, the dark comedy follows a photo editor (played by Zoey Deutch) who makes up a huge lie that spirals out of control. It’s easy to see how that premise resonated with O’Brien, who is often the subject of online speculation that gets out of hand. He talks about how he feels vindicated now that enough time has passed to prove the Nightwing claims were false:
Dylan O'Brien: No, no, never, never [any truth to the Nightwing rumors]. I'm glad that time has passed and people can see that I was telling the truth. There was so much doubt and speculation and theories and all just from, I don't even know who originally put... I think that they just post s—t. They have no source. It doesn't come from anything. It's crazy actually to see it catch fire. That's not really fair, is it? It is [like the message of Not Okay]. Yeah. I mean, it was like an account that has a following. It's somewhat of a credible source and they're just making s—t up. That’s interesting, isn't it?
Despite Not Okay's stunning ending, the real kicker of the movie is that Danni’s lies could have been easily debunked. She tells a story that seems perfect, leading nearly everyone around her to buy into the falsehood even though inconsistencies were obvious from the very beginning. The message of the film, among several that it aims to get across, is that some stories feel too good to question. Clearly, that is also the case with O’Brien making his superhero debut, whether with Marvel or DC. But actually reading the actor’s own quotes, going as far back as 2014, demonstrate the fact that it’s not a career path he wants to pursue.
It speaks to how social media distorts reality. O’Brien has been consistent in his comments, but rumors like the Nightwing casting spread like wildfire and are too often repeated faster than he’s able to correct them. This is the story of Not Okay, which advocates, among other things, the importance of scrutinizing a person’s words and digging into sources to find out whether they’re reputable. It’s worth keeping in mind the next time O’Brien gets linked to a high-profile movie.