‘The Batman’: John David Washington And Chiwetel Ejiofor Rumored For Villain Roles

I don’t know what to make of these rumors except to say that I hope they’re true, but the sources give me serious doubts.

Matt Reeves’ The Batman is said to have many different villains for the Caped Crusader to face, including Penguin, Catwoman, and Riddler. But there may be more, and one that hasn’t come up as much is Harvey Dent aka Two-Face, who was last played by Aaron Eckhart in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. A rumor by Geeks Worldwide (ugh) says Reeves is “paying close attention to” BlackKklansman star John David Washington to take on the role of Dent, who isn’t even confirmed to be in the movie. Furthermore, the site says no talks with Washington have begun.

What the hell does “paying close attention to” even mean? Is he just watching a lot of Washington footage? Is he calling his pops Denzel and asking where his son is having lunch that day? I don’t get it, but it sounds like some flimsy bullshit.

I like the sound of Washington and star Robert Pattinson appearing together, though, even if it’s only briefly. Washington had a helluva 2018 with BlackKklansman along with Monsters and Men, plus he was just featured in the teaser for Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. Even bigger things are on the way for him.

Meanwhile, We Got This Covered says The Batman is targeting one of the best actors in the biz, Chiwetel Ejiofor, for one of any number of roles. He may also be up for playing Harvey Dent, but Warner Bros. could be considering him for The Riddler or Lucius Fox, the latter a business exec and inventor who works for Wayne Enterprises. Fox was played by Morgan Freeman in Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Ejiofor is already part of the MCU where he played Baron Mordo in Doctor Strange, and will presumably return for the upcoming sequel.

Take ALL of this with a grain of salt until something is confirmed, but I think you can tell I’m skeptical. Having two of today’s finest black actors possibly going toe-to-toe with Batman sounds pretty cool, though, so I hope these pan out.

The Batman hits theaters on June 25th 2021.