With Robert Pattinson now locked in to star as the Caped Crusader himself, DC fans are growing impatient as they wait to see who director Matt Reeves will cast as the various villains in The Batman. From what we’ve heard, the standalone pic is expected to feature a whole rogues gallery of antagonists, with at least six or seven bad guys said to be showing up to cause trouble for the Dark Knight.
As we’ve known for a while now, one of these who’s all but confirmed to be involved is Edward Nygma/The Riddler, and according to sources close to We Got This Covered, Doctor Strange star Chiwetel Ejiofor (who played Mordo in the MCU film) is one of several actors who’s being eyed to portray the role. We should note, though, that we’ve heard the studio actually has a few different parts in mind for Ejiofor, with it being possible that he’ll end up as either Two-Face or Lucius Fox instead.
Or, who knows, he could not even be in the movie at all. He’s just on a wishlist and given that it’s so early on, WB might end up going in a different direction entirely. But before you begin to cast doubt, just remember that this is the same source who’s brought us other DC scoops in the past, including that Robert Pattinson will be playing Batman, Viola Davis is set to return for The Suicide Squad and Black Adam will be the villain in Shazam 3!, all of which were later confirmed.
Regardless of who ends up in the role, it’s nice to hear that the Riddler will be one of the main villains, as it’s been awhile since Nygma first tested the Bat’s wits on the big screen. Jim Carrey’s turn in 1995’s Batman Forever is the last cinematic portrayal of the character we got and while Cory Michael Smith’s performance on Gotham went down pretty well, it’ll still be good to have him in theaters again.
With The Batman now in pre-production and, in Reeves’ own words, getting ready to begin shooting “sometime around the year’s end,” we should start to get some official casting announcements soon. Until we do, though, tell us, who would you like to see play the Riddler? Take to the comments section down below and give us your thoughts.