Back in 2013, a year after The Dark Knight Rises’ release and mere weeks after Man of Steel came out, it was announced that Batman would appear in the sequel to the recently-released Superman movie, what would eventually become known as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Ben Affleck was unveiled as the new live-action Caped Crusader a month later, but among the other actors who’d also tested for the role was Inhumans star Anson Mount. Now Mount is finally getting the opportunity to play Batman for the animated movie Injustice, and he sees this as a full circle moment.
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Anson Mount about his work on Injustice, and after bringing up how he’d been discussed as a potential candidate to succeed Christian Bale as Batman, as well as how he’s said that Gotham City’s Dark Knight was one of his favorite characters growing up, I asked how it felt when he learned he’d be voicing Batman for the latest direct-to-video animated DC movie. Mount responded thusly:
It was a feeling of, wow, this has come around 360 in a way I get to fulfill what broke my heart all those years ago when I screen-tested my ass off and worked really hard. I think it was Richard Dreyfuss who put out a tweet, not talking to me specifically, but to any actor, that said ‘You got the audition for Batman, you worked hard on the material, you did a great take, you sent it in, you waited, and then they gave it to Ben Affleck.’ But it felt good in some ways to get to actually play around with the character.
At the time Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was being put together, Anson Mount was starring as Cullen Bohannon in the AMC series Hell on Wheels, and he also had a little comic book media experience from appearing in an episode of Smallville. Unfortunately, Mount wasn’t selected for the role, and after Batman v Superman, Ben Affleck reprised Batman in Suicide Squad, Justice League (both versions) and the upcoming The Flash. Nearly a decade later though, now Mount has joined the group of actors who’ve left their stamp on Batman in the animated realm. Mount’s version of Batman follows on the heels of Supernatural star Jensen Ackles’ take on the character in the Batman: The Long Halloween two-part animated adaptation.
Based on the same-named 2013 video game and its tie-in comic book series, Injustice follows Superman, voiced by This is Us’ Justin Hartley, being tricked by The Joker into killing Lois Lane and destroying Metropolis. Blinded by rage, the Man of Steel recruits other superheroes to help him take over Earth, resulting in Anson Mount’s Batman and his own allies attempting to stop them. The movie’s cast also includes Janet Varney as Wonder Woman, Gillian Jacobs as Harley Quinn, Oliver Hudson as Plastic Man, Laura Bailey as Lois Lane and Rama Kushna, Kevin Pollak as The Joker and Jonathan Kent, Reid Scott as Green Arrow and Victor Zsasz, Faran Tahir as Ra’s al Ghul and Brandon Michael Hall as Cyborg, among many others.
You can see how this animated Injustice adaptation unfolds when it’s released on Tuesday, October 19. Those of you eager for more Anson Mount content can look forward to him reprising Christopher Pike in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which will premiere on Paramount+ sometime in 2022.
