We have reported a couple of times on some big-name actors turning down the role of Christopher Dent in Matt Reeves’ The Batman: Part II. Brad Pitt, Stellan Skarsgård, and, most recently, Daniel Craig have all declined the role.
Now, according to a report by Jeff Sneider, another has passed, legendary actor Robert De Niro.
The studio seems dead set on recruiting a big name for the role. This is purely guesswork, but as we have discussed here among Outposters, this could be what is causing the challenge.
In many comic continuities, Christopher Dent is the alcoholic and abusive father of Harvey Dent (Sebastian Stan). His abuse, and the impact this had on Harvey during his upbringing, is a major contributor to the eventual emergence of the “two-face” psyche when the incident happens that triggers Dent’s fall to madness.
So this means it is likely a small, but pivotal, role told mainly in flashback. It is also potentially a dark role with very few redeeming qualities. A tough sell to a high-profile actor. Who wants to just be in a few minutes of screen time and be shown knocking around a child and shouting at them drunkenly?
Earlier this week it was suggested that Viggo Mortensen was also in the frame.
In response to the De Niro report, The Batman: Part II co-writer Mattson Tomlin tweeted: “lolololololol” which many have taken to be a dismissal of the De Niro story.
If The Batman: Part II does follow The Long Halloween storyline, then District Attorney Harvey Dent, Commissioner James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), and Batman/Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) form an uneasy alliance to bring down a serial killer who seems to be linked to the city’s mafia families.
Filming on The Batman: Part II starts in a little over a month, so they had better get moving with a solution to this.
