{"id":50245,"date":"2025-10-02T01:14:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T01:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/50245\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T01:14:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T01:14:08","slug":"the-punisher-alum-ben-barnes-reveals-the-role-hes-eying-in-james-gunns-dcu-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/50245\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Punisher’ Alum Ben Barnes Reveals the Role He’s Eying in James Gunn’s DCU [Exclusive]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every generation has its Batman. For Ben Barnes<\/a>, that dream began long before he was Billy Russo in The Punisher or General Kirigan in Shadow and Bone. Speaking with Collider\u2019s Maggie Lovitt<\/a> on a Panel at FanX Salt Lake<\/a> Comic Convention this weekend, Barnes revealed that the Caped Crusader has been the one role he\u2019s fantasized about since childhood. He told the audience:<\/p>\n

\u201cI was actually watching some\u2014 my parents just visited me, and they bought some like little kid videos, and we were watching some old family videos. And in every single one, I was dressed like Batman or Robin Hood. I think there may have been a Spider-Man one, but it was mainly Batman. So obviously, I was, from age 4 and up, I obviously requested that.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Lovitt suggested speaking a role in the DCU into existence, Barnes readily replied, saying, “Hey, I accept. [\u2026] Just call me, I\u2019ve got Bruce Wayne ready to go.” Barnes also recalled growing up with Marvel Top Trumps card games, watching superheroes long before he ever auditioned for The Punisher. But when it came to role-playing as a kid, there was only one clear winner. Batman has been the constant.<\/p>\n

James Gunn\u2019s New Batman Era<\/p>\n

\"Batman
\n Batman on a comic book coverImage via DC Comics<\/p>\n

Barnes\u2019 comments arrive at a fascinating moment for The Dark Knight. James Gunn and Peter Safran\u2019s DCU slate<\/a>, Gods & Monsters, includes a new film called The Brave and the Bold that will introduce Batman and Damian Wayne to this universe. Gunn recently talked<\/a> about the obsessive fan debates surrounding the character \u2014 from the yellow utility belt to white eyes \u2014 but insisted what matters most is the character himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould Batman have white eyes? That\u2019s a big subject of conversation. It\u2019s like, \u2018Guys, that\u2019s really what matters?\u2019 But those are the things they care about,\u201d Gunn said in a podcast chat with Tom Segura<\/a>. \u201cWhat matters is the character, the story, and I think we have a really really good story now for what\u2019s happening with Batman.\u201d While details remain under wraps, The Brave and the Bold<\/a> will be helmed by Andy Muschietti (The Flash), with Matt Reeves\u2019 The Batman: Part II continuing separately as an \u201cElseworlds\u201d story. That means multiple Batmen will coexist \u2014 and the fan casting conversations are already in full swing.<\/p>\n

Barnes has never officially been linked to Batman, but his timing couldn\u2019t be more intriguing. The actor, now 43, has the brooding intensity fans often associate with Gotham\u2019s vigilante. And as his comments show, the dream has been alive since before he ever stepped onto a Marvel or DC set. Whether Gunn and Safran would consider him remains to be seen \u2014 but if Barnes\u2019 inner four-year-old had his way, the Bat-Signal is already shining.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned to Collider for more updates on the future of Batman in the DCU.<\/p>\n

\"the-batman-part-ii-logo-placeholder.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Release Date<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 1, 2027<\/p>\n

Director<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMatt Reeves<\/p>\n

Writers<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMatt Reeves, Mattson Tomlin, Bill Finger, Bob Kane<\/p>\n

Franchise(s)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBatman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every generation has its Batman. For Ben Barnes, that dream began long before he was Billy Russo in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[146,85,46,397],"class_list":["post-50245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}