Reacher star Alan Ritchson is ready to join the DC Universe, James Gunn and Peter Safran’s cinematic take on DC Comics.
While promoting his upcoming movie Playdate, Screen Rant asked Ritchson if there was any potential that he could find himself amid the DCU. Rumors had already been swirling around the actor’s not-yet-confirmed casting as Batman, though the action star did confirm that he’d been in talks to take on a “messier” role. “Yeah. Yes. That’s the conversation that I’ve been having with them is like, ‘I want to play somebody a little messier.’ And I told them, I said, if I’m going to do this, I described to them the kind of personality that I’d want to play and what that would mean to their world, and I think it’s something everybody wants to see right now over there. So yes, I want to play somebody a little dirtier than your typical clean-cut protagonist,” he said.
It’s an interesting answer, especially since Ritchson has noted that he’s currently in conversation with DC Studios about eventually picking up a superhero role, much to the anticipation of Reacher fans. “Messier” is an incredibly fluid adjective hand-picked by Ritchson used to describe who he may play. Of course, there’s the literal sense, perhaps a character with a “messy” appearance such as The Joker or Two-Face. With Clayface already set to release in September 2026, one Batman villain has already been ruled out. There’s also the metaphorical use of the word “messy” in slang, which typically relates to someone who is notorious for perpetuating drama or conflict. This, too, could imply that Ritchson has a villainous role in mind.
What’s Ahead For The DCU
A stunned Clayface in a production room in Batman: The Animated Series.Image via Warner Bros.
Ritchson’s comments about his pending DCU deal are just a taste of what Gunn and Safran have in store for their greater DC Universe. The duo’s first phase of the DCU, “Gods and Monsters,” has been projected to unfold as a ten-year plan and explore a new era of comic book-inspired storytelling. Some have believed that “Gods and Monsters” is a direct nod to DC: The New Frontier, which assembled iconic DC Comics characters during the 1950s to take down sociopolitical threats. The DCU’s “Gods and Monsters” phase may not follow DC: The New Frontier beat-for-beat, and may instead opt for a more literal and metaphorical outlook.
Even if Ritchson won’t be playing Batman, the DCU will introduce its own variation of The Dark Knight in The Brave and the Bold. Following Superman, Man of Tomorrow will dive into a Lex Luthor and Superman team-up tale, which will hopefully introduce Brainiac into the DCU. Supergirl is still on the way, and DC fans impatiently await the arrival of Nightwing as the DCU plunges deeper into its opening chapters.
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