For a movie we know next to nothing about despite taking 900 years to actually happen, Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II is wracking up quite an impressive cast list behind Robert Pattinson’s titular flying rodent hero. Late last year (i.e. a few weeks ago) we learned that Scarlett Johansson would join in an undisclosed role. We have theories as to who she might play, in point of fact. Now, her fellow MCU person, and co-star in the second Captain America movie, Sebastian Stan, is reportedly in talks to join the cast too also as well. This from Deadline.
While we certainly don’t know who Stan will play, we have a couple of ideas based on what we’ve heard thus far. Two obvious choices spring to the top of our minds. First is Dr. Thomas Elliot, a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne’s with a similarly tragic backstory. If some of the early scuttlebutt surrounding Reeves’ script proves correct, Stan would be a pretty solid choice to play that character. (Stan looks enough like Pattinson too, if you know what I mean.) The other seemingly obvious idea would be Gotham City DA Harvey Dent. This is mainly from the conceit that Johansson could be playing Gilda Gold, aka Gilda Dent, Harvey’s wife who ends up playing a pivotal role in The Long Halloween.
Of course, Stan could be playing someone else entirely. However, given the promise that the villain of The Batman Part II will be someone who’s never appeared in live-action film before, and assuming he’s a villain at all, the other options are limited. Either Dent or Elliot, both known for their pronounced dark sides, would be a bit on-the-nose for someone who’s played Bucky Barnes for nigh-on 15 years.
The other wrinkle to this is what it could possibly mean for Stan’s role in Avengers: Secret Wars. As of now, Bucky is one of the co-leaders of the MCU’s New Avengers, and will appear in Doomsday. But as The Batman Part II has a release date of October 1, 2027 and Secret Wars is December 17, 2027, how likely is it the actor could effectively film both movies in the same span of time? The world may never know.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.
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