Despite the fact that he’s clearly locked into playing the role of Jack Reacher — just Reacher — for at least one more season of Prime Video’s wildly successful adaptation of Lee Child’s novels, Alan Ritchson can’t stop, won’t stop being thrown into the “Who should play James Gunn’s Batman in the DCU?” conversations and casting rumor round-ups. The actor has previously addressed the fan fervor in a humble way, and his latest comments about the Caped Crusader sparked a positive reaction from one of his Reacher co-stars.
With some of that sweet-ass Ritchson-as-Batman fan art in mind, let’s dive into what both co-stars have said recently about the musclebound actor taking on the Dark Knight.
What Alan Ritchson Has Said About Playing Batman
Alan Ritchson has technically been fielding Batman-related questions for years, having previously co-starred as Hank "Hawk" Hall in Titans, but it really kicked up a notch or two after James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios. To the point where, as he put it in a video for WIRED, he deals with that specific casting question on a constant basis. In his words:
I get asked everyday if I’m playing Batman. Yeah, would I play Batman, yes. Would I pay handsomely to play Batman? You wouldn’t even have to pay me to be Batman. I would don the suit. [In Batman voice] Gotham is mine.
Of course, he prefaced this answer by sharing how funny he thinks it is that fans continue to pummel him and others with this question despite the fact that James Gunn himself went ton social media to completely diffuse any hopes and wishes for Ritchson to don the cape and cowl for the DCU. But stranger things have happened, I say. Such as Tom Cruise playing Jack Reacher....
How Reacher Co-Star Roberto Montesino Feels About Alan Ritchson's Batman Chances
Having made his biggest small-screen splash yet as part of the 2025 TV season, Reacher co-star Roberto Montesino has been Duffy's right-hand man in Season 3, and will hopefully keep himself alive long enough to potentially make a cameo return in Season 4 (or in the upcoming Neagley spinoff). When asked by ScreenRant for his thoughts about what Ritchson could bring to the role of Bruce Wane and his vigilante alter ego, Montesino said:
What would he bring to that role? First of all, his work ethic, his research, his command of a character. For example, in Lee Child's books, when you're reading the book? Reacher walks into a room, and there are three pages of thought; everything that he's clocking. How do you do that without those words? He does it with his face, with his eyes. And he said to me once, ‘Every movement of your eye indicates to the audience a new thought.’
That is quite possibly one of the most astute ways for anyone to have answered that question, since Montesino draws up the perfect anecdote that addresses one big way Reacher and Bruce Wayne are aligned. Neither one of them can enter a room without sizing up everything and everyone in it, while also noting possible escape routes. Nothing needs to be spoken aloud, as the movement behind the characters' eyes says it all.
Amusingly enough, Roberto Montesino doesn't even need to see his co-star cosplaying in a mocked-up Gotham City to hold the belief that Ritchson would excel in the role more than anyone else. In his boastful words:
So, he would kill Batman. Why did Tom Cruise pick Reacher? Because he was so well-written and so complex in stillness. Batman's the same kind of thing. He's very stoic; he's got a mask. I think he would be the best Batman we've ever had. We've had some good ones, but I think he would be the best Batman we've ever had.
Of course, playing Batman is about far more than just a look, as past portrayers like Robert Pattinson and Christian Bale are well aware. But I don't think Alan Ritchson would have trouble dealing with any of the physical attributes that come with playing the Bat. Except for maybe finding a Batsuit that actually fits over his chest and shoulders.
For now, Batman's casting remains unconfirmed for the DCU, and we still have yet to see how Reacher Season 3 will wrap up. So be sure to use that Amazon Prime subscription to catch the finale when it drops on Thursday, March 27.
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