After a long and rough start, Matt Reeves’ The Batman has been surprising us on a pretty regular basis with casting info. And, Reeves himself has been using his Twitter feed to update fans on many of the casting decisions made so far. Just today he posted a welcoming gif of actor Peter Sarsgaard to let us in on his casting, but we all have the same question now: Who, exactly, will Sarsgaard be playing in The Batman? Well, I’m betting on a certain coin-loving villain who never starts off as one.
This take on the tale of The Dark Knight is said to feature a more in-depth look at Batman’s skills as a detective, as well as using a rogue’s gallery approach to the baddies it will use. So, instead of one or two major villains menacing the movie, and the typical set up or quick removal of a third evil-doer, The Batman has been said to have at least six Big Bads scheduled to pop up all over the place and cause tons of trouble for Bruce Wayne’s alter-ego.
Over the summer, rumors of just who these villains could be showed up, and while the whole list hasn’t been confirmed by Matt Reeves or anyone else close to the production, three of those villains have been cast so far. Right now, we have Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Colin Farrell as Penguin, Paul Dano as The Riddler, as well as John Turturro as crime boss Carmine Falcone (who was not originally rumored). From that first rumor we’re still looking to see who might play Firefly, Mad Hatter and Two-Face. And, I have to say, if you look at Reeves’ announcement tweet, Peter Sarsgaard does look like a certain lawyer turned supervillain:
OK, so Peter Sarsgaard doesn’t look like a well-trained criminal mastermind in this gif, but he does look like an attorney. I mean, am I right, or am I right? (I’m clearly right.) While I have no idea what project of Sarsgaard’s this is from, it should also be noted that, while the caption doesn’t say he’s playing Harvey Dent / Two-Face in The Batman, an astute Twitter follower of Reeves’ did point out that there are two faces in the image. OMG. I just got the good kind of chills you guys.
Of course, this would not be the first time we’ve seen either Harvey Dent or Two-Face in live action if Peter Sarsgaard is, indeed, taking on that coin-flipping role. Billy Dee Williams played Dent in Tim Burton’s Batman in 1989, Tommy Lee Jones brought him screaming to life in Batman Forever (1995), Aaron Eckhart had the part in The Dark Knight (2008) and we also saw the character on Fox’s Gotham.
I can easily see Peter Sarsgaard starting off as Gotham’s hot shot District Attorney, only to get horribly scarred by acid or in some other painful way, lose his mind and start making all his decisions based on the toss of a coin. Sarsgaard might not look very intimidating in the above gif, but he’s played his fair share of dangerous individuals, and would certainly be up to the challenge of switching personalities on a dime. (Or, quarter, because that’s what people use for coin flips, right?)
Of course, we will likely have to wait a bit until we get real confirmation (as opposed to a sly hint) of who Peter Sarsgaard is playing in The Batman, which opens on June 25, 2021. Until then, be sure to check out what you can catch on the big screen in 2020!