Following the news that Matt Reeves is working on The Batman sequel, discussion about another actor who almost donned Batman’s costume resurfaced online. Before Robert Pattinson could enjoy his time as Bruce Wayne, the This is Us star first threw his name into the Gotham ring to fulfill his dream of playing a superhero but was turned down by Warner Bros.
Milo Ventimiglia, who’s known for his role as Jack Pearson in the drama series This Is Us, opened up to The Big Ticket, Variety's and iHeart’s movie podcast about his experience trying to secure the Batman role. “Do I see myself in a cape and cowl?” he asked. “Warner Brothers didn’t,”
According to Ventimiglia, who was 42 at the time, executives at the studio told him he was too old to play Gotham's defender. "They said, ‘Ventimiglia, you’re too old.'" the actor recalled. Warner Bros. then chose the 33-year-old Twilight star to assume the role.
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Despite the rejection, the Gilmore Girls actor stated that he has no hard feelings about it. “It’s okay. It doesn’t matter,” said Ventimiglia. “By the way, I’m kind of busy.” At the time, the actor was working on This is Us and has picked up his third Emmy nominee for his performance.
Fans expressed no surprise that Ventimiglia advocated himself to play the Dark Knight given his impressive superhero resume. In 2006, he flexed his powers as Peter Petrelli on Heroes and later took on the villainous role of Ogre on Gotham. He's even lent his voice to Wolverine in a few Marvel animated series.
“How is Robert Pattinson a good choice to play Batman? The only cool role he had was Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter. And how the hell did they turn Milo Ventimiglia down? They said he's too old, but let me ask you a question: Does he look like he's 42? No.” user @RockyBlaze01 wrote.
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When Reeves' The Batman was released last year, it won over both critics and audiences. Its sizable box office of $770 million worldwide paved the way for the creation of a sequel and a few spinoff series. However, following Warner Bros.' intention to scrap projects, Reeves agreed to a multi-year contract, giving fans hope that his work at the DCEU would be secure, which leads to the sequel confirmation.
Despite Ventimiglia not being able to play Batman, some fans believe that the costume landed a satisfactory owner.
There is no set release date for The Batman sequel, but stay tuned to Epicstream for the latest DCEU news.
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