The 5 Best Actors To Replace Ben Affleck As Batman In James Gunn's DC Universe

If you're DC Studios, the film, television, and video game company tasked with exploiting the massive roster of DC Comics characters for our entertainment and their financial gain, you obviously want your excitable fanbase focused right now on what's to come rather than what's been — because outside of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy and Patty Jenkins' "Wonder Woman" (not, it must be stressed, her "Wonder Woman 1984"), Todd Phillips' "Joker" (we'll get to its sequel in a moment), and Matt Reeves' "The Batman," what DC Studios (former DC Films) has been is a complete and totally aimless disaster. When it handed the creative reins over to Zack Snyder after the somewhat underwhelming blockbuster success of "Man of Steel" (the $225 million-plus production topped out at $668 million worldwide, far short of Nolan's billion-dollar smashes "The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight Rises"), it committed to a dreary run toward a "Justice League" that, even in its director's cut, was strangely joyless.

Snyder's run had its supporters (ahem), but the box office reflects an overall enthusiasm deficit compared to the miraculous, masterfully orchestrated Marvel Cinematic Universe run of 2008's "Iron Man" to 2019's "Avengers: Endgame." Factor in the brand spankin' new failure of Todd Phillips' "Joke Folie à Deux," a critical and commercial flop that browbeat the first film's legion of fans into an aggrieved frenzy, and what's to come can't get here soon enough.

DC Studios' hard reboot begins on the big screen on July 11, 2025, when James Gunn's "Superman" debuts the initial "Gods and Monsters" phase of his superhero reign (he's now running the studio with Peter Safran). Official details have been meted out in tantalizingly brief slivers. Aside from casting, Gunn has cited the work of Grant Morrison as an influence on his Superman, Green Lantern, and Batman portrayals, but we've yet to get a sense of how the "Guardians of the Galaxy" director will wed the writer's work to his sensibilities.

When it comes to his portrayal of Batman, the marquee character of DC Studios (in terms of box office), we do know this: Gunn's going to team the Caped Crusader with Damian Wayne's Robin, i.e. Bruce Wayne's son with Talia al Ghul. Over the first 10 years of his life, Talia had Damian trained as a world-class assassin. She did not, however, tend to his emotional development, which makes him a handful for the comparatively meticulous Bruce.

A hard reboot means new actors across the board, so Gunn is bidding farewell to Ben Affleck's Batman –- which is sad in that he's a fine actor who never got the chance to leave his mark on the character. Given that we know the entire cast of "Superman" and just learned Aaron Pierre will play John Stewart opposite Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan in the Gunn-connected HBO series "Lanterns," comic book fans are understandably in full-on fan-casting mode with regards to Bruce Wayne/Batman in Andy Muschietti's in-development "The Brave and the Bold."

Since we expect to get a Batman before a Robin, I'm going to throw out five actors who'd be bang-on casting for a Bruce confronted with a young killing machine who wants to be his dad's sidekick, but isn't so hot on pops' no-killing rule. These are ranked in order of preference.

As far as fans are concerned online, Jake Gyllenhaal, a star seemingly in search of a franchise (or just a bona-fide box office hit), is the leader in the Caped Crusader clubhouse. If the basic requirements of a new Batman are the ability to brood, get yoked, and deliver deadpan one-liners, Gyllenhaal's got this. (It wasn't a good movie, but Gyllenaal at least checked these three boxes with relative aplomb in Doug Liman's "Road House.") Having to play an unwitting parent (Talia kept Damian's existence from Bruce for a decade) who's got to un-train his trained-killer son (the violence is fine, he just can't go around icing bad guys) will perhaps force him to draw on his terrific performance in Paul Dano's underseen "Wildlife"; granted, there's not much similarity between these characters, but there might be some overlap in temperament.

Gyllenhaal is a lot of actor for Wayne, and the character hasn't always been a career boon for the men who've played him. (George Clooney considers it one of the worst career moves he ever made.) Christian Bale needed Batman to get to the A-list, but you could argue Gyllenhaal is essentially already there. He's an interesting actor with eclectic tastes, so I'd hate to lose him to a superhero franchise (his turn as Mysterio in "Spider-Man: Far From Home" was merely a one-off trip to the Marvel Cinematic Universe), but smart, hard-working actors know how to play the one-for-them, one-for-me game. Gunn may want Superman to be the center of the DCU, but he has to know that nailing Batman is all that matters for some of DC's most dedicated fans. With this in mind, Gyllenhaal might be the safest bet here.

If he can't be James Bond, I think this 42-year-old Irish hunk could be spectacular as an equal parts earnest and tortured Batman. I'm especially interested in the reserves of sadness walled up behind Dornan's oft-stony mien. He doesn't want to reveal too much of himself –- or, when he does (as in those erotic-as-your-grandparents-guest-bedroom "Fifty Shades of Grey" movies), he wants to crack the facade open on his own, fully negotiated terms. Chasing after a whirling dervish of destruction like Damien Wayne is the last thing most of Dornan's characters would want to do.

Dornan always feels haunted, which should make him a perfect match for a guy who can't stop seeing his parents murdered outside the Monarch Theatre, but Wayne's deadpan might play against his strengths. Dornan's funniest when he's being sincere (e.g. his impassioned musical number in "Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar"). On paper, he seems like a slam dunk, but I think there are more intriguing, outside-the-box choices, like...

I am dead freakin' serious. This is the direction you go if you want a sardonic Wayne who grows into his dad role when confronted with a socially inept son in need of emotional stability and a moral compass. Wayne isn't built for the former, so I think it would be fascinating to watch Hader, so brilliant as contract killer Barry Berkman, struggle with the demands of unasked-for (if not entirely unwanted) fatherhood. It depends on how the character is written, but I like Wayne when he's a bit of a mess (and an alcoholic); watching him try to get it together personally with his kid in tow while attempting to keep his rogue's gallery at bay would be a new dynamic for the movies.

Would this be too far from Morrison's material, or simply not in Gunn's wheelhouse (thus far, he seems more excited about introducing Damian Wayne to non-comic book fans)? Muschietti might be able to tackle it (I like how handled the Bruce Wayne-Barry Allen relationship in "The Flash"), but this is ultimately Gunn's call, and Hader might be too interesting a choice for his purposes.

Gosling exudes everything you want in a movie star, so why isn't he a bigger deal at the box office? Okay, he gets to share a good deal of the credit as part of team "Barbie," but on his own, or in a two-hander, tailored to his sun-kissed Ontario charm (no one's written, much less thought this before), he can't close the deal with moviegoers ("The Fall Guy," "The Nice Guys," and "First Man" all should've been huge hits).

So ... maybe it's time for Gosling to say to heck with it and make a proper superhero movie. I don't know that his vibe is right for the MCU, but since we don't have a solid handle on the emotional temperature of Gunn's "Gods and Monsters" films, what's the harm in wishing him into the Batcave? Not that it matters. Whether he's playing a Jewish skinhead in "The Believer," a drug-addicted teacher in "Half Nelson," or a lovably disheveled private dick in "The Nice Guys," Gosling is always the most magnetic person on screen. That's rarely true for movie Waynes, so, screw it, let's switch things up and try a sly, smokin' Batman for a change.

After his portrayal of a swole, sexy killing machine in Adam Wingard's "The Guest," Stevens seemed a sure bet for big screen stardom. In recent years, though, he's gravitated toward playing weirdos and/or bad guys in films like "Cuckoo," "Abigail," and "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga." Look, I've no quarrel with Stevens if he wants to be his generation's Christopher Lee (if only because we've gone at least a couple of generations without one of those), but I'd like for him to be bankable enough to get his oddball movies made on a sizable budget. One sure-fire way to do that: play Batman.

The major drawback here is that Batman is a poor showcase for Stevens' abundant talents. He could do Wayne's brand of tortured in his sleep, which makes me wonder if he'd want to go in too extreme of a direction for Gunn and company. Again, it does feel like Damian/Robin will be the breakout character of "The Bold and the Brave," which might not be enough fun for a delightful weirdo like Stevens. But if he wants to be a star, which will absolutely make it easier for him to take wild risks as an actor, I think he should dial back the strangeness and deliver a good old-fashioned leading man turn. The benefit to cinema could be enormous.