Back in June, Hollywood Life the gossipy sister site of Deadline Hollywood and Movieline (and owned by the same mega conglomerate) reported that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was in early discussions to play The Riddler in Christopher Nolan’s “Batman 3.” It sounded potentially plausible to us, but Gordon-Levitt’s reps denied the story (though reps are prone to deny everything unless it’s officially announced) and the internet moved on.
But the story has sputtered back to life as FirstShowing are reporting that according to their “reliable inside source” “a studio casting grid” has Gordon-Levitt listed as “interested” in the role of Riddler. The emphasis here is more that Riddler will be the villain in “Batman 3” and less that Gordon-Levitt will take the role. Sounds reasonable to us.
Jonathan Nolan has been working on the script for a long time, and even if it’s not quite finished yet, it’s probably safe to assume he has the characters mapped out. As for Gordon-Levitt as the Riddler, we’d love to see it happen, and Nolan does like to work with the same stable of actors, but it remains to be seen if the stars will align. For all we know, his name could just be a wishlist choice for Nolan at this point, and as for Gordon-Levitt, what young actor wouldn’t be interested in the part? Frankly, we’re just excited at the prospect of Riddler as the villain in the next installment. Always treated as a prancing, silly nemesis in past adaptations of the comic, it would be nice to see something more sinister in Nolan’s decidedly grittier Gotham.
“Batman 3” will go in front of cameras next spring and hit theaters on July 20, 2012.
