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Brandon Sklenar would gladly take on the mantle of Batman

By Chris Morgan | Last updated Apr 11, 2025 1:43 PM ET

Actor Brandon Sklenar is having a moment. A good one, as opposed to when he was adjacent to the toxic mess that was "It Ends with Us." His new movie "Drop" just, well, dropped, and he recently finished his run in the main cast of "Yellowstone" spinoff "1923."

When we covered the information about the next step in that universe, "1944," we noted that Sklenar expressed interest in reprising the role of Spencer Dutton on that show. We said he'd have to be aged up to do so, and in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he made it clear that would be part of the process. "Give me some gout, a little hunch and some salt and pepper. I’ll gravel the voice up a bit. If it comes around, I’d love to do it. I really would," he said.

However, there's a bigger role than Spencer Dutton that comes up in that feature piece as well, and Sklenar is unabashed in his willingness to at least tangentially stump for it. The dude wants to be Batman.

To be fair, Sklenar is building off a murmuring momentum. Evidently he has emerged on the ol' internet as a popular choice among those who ponder such things to play Batman. This would be the Batman in the "DCU" being creatively helmed by James Gunn. Robert Pattinson's Batman in the world being helmed by Matt Reeves is a different Batman. Apparently we need two Batmen even as the comic book movie peak drifts further into the background.

The idea of Sklenar donning the cowl came up in this interview, and first the actor espoused his affinity for the work done by Pattinson, but also Christian Bale. Evidently Sklenar is a big Bale fan in general. He then said he feels there is more to explore with the character (this parenthetical aside expresses our skpeticism about that) and then added, "So, if it ever comes around, I would gladly take that torch, and I would not take it lightly."

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Maybe Sklenar would make a fine Batman. Of course, how often does the popular choice of the fancasters actually end up in a role? People were all into the idea of John Krasinski as Reed Richards and the best they got was a bit in Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange movie. Then again, it's better to have some momentum than no momentum. However it shakes out, it certainly feels like Sklenar has a brighter future than merely graying his hair and throwing on some makeup to pop up on "1944."

(h/t The Hollywood Reporter)

Chris Morgan

Chris Morgan is a Detroit-based culture writer who has somehow managed to justify getting his BA in Film Studies. He has written about sports and entertainment across various internet platforms for years and is also the author of three books about '90s television.

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