Karl Urban shares that he's open to playing Batman if the opportunity arises. One of most coveted roles in Hollywood, there have been few actors who were given the opportunity to play one of the most popular superheroes ever including Christian Bale and Michael Keaton, with the current iteration played by Ben Affleck - not a bad pool of actors to be a part of. Which is why the 45-year-old actor says he is game to join the club anytime.
Urban is no stranger to comic book movie adaptations, playing the titular character in the 2012 science-fiction action film Dredd, which is based on the 2000 AD comic strip Judge Dredd. While the film didn't do well enough at the box office to warrant a sequel, the movie was adored by critics and since its release, fans have been clamoring for a follow-up. More recently, Urban also joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Thor: Ragnarok as Skurge, Hela's Executioner. Unfortunately, the character didn't survive the great Asgardian war, but he did a solid job in the limited screen time that was given to him. With the aforementioned films in his portfolio, Urban says he's open to playing DC's Batman.
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Speaking with JoBlo to promote his latest film, Bent, the New Zealand-native actor was asked about his thoughts regarding fans casting him as Batman. Admittedly, Urban shared that he's unaware of such campaigns, but is open to the possibility if the opportunity is presented to him. Here's everything he said about the matter:
"Oh, really? Wow. I don’t know. I haven’t really contemplated that. Usually the way the process works for me is I get sent projects, sent scripts and I read them, meet with the filmmakers and really on that basis choose to get involved. As far as Batman goes, I guess my favorite Batman movie was THE DARK KNIGHT. Chris Nolan is just an extraordinary director and I thought Christian Bale was a fantastic Batman and obviously with such talent like Heath Ledger that was the perfect comic book movie right there...So, I don’t know, I’m open to any and all opportunities."
Unfortunately, the actor getting the gig seems to be farfetched right now. Despite persistent rumors about Ben Affleck hanging his cowl and cape, several reports say that Jake Gyllenhaal is already lined up to take over his mantle in the planned Matt Reeves' Batman standalone film. However, hearing that Urban is open to at least talk about it could convince Warner Bros. to look his way and see the same potential that fans saw in him with regard to playing the iconic superhero. If not, perhaps they have other DC roles that would be available for him to play.
However, if Warner Bros/DCFilms is keen on getting Urban to board their cinematic universe, they have to act fast. The actor has a slew of projects waiting on the wings such as the next installment in the Star Trek franchise (which he can't wait to get back into), as well as the long-rumored Dredd sequel, which will be in the form of a TV series.
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Source: JoBlo
