Armie Hammer Once Felt He Was Going to Make a Terrible Batman in a Scrapped ‘Justice League’ Film
In the 2000s, actor Armie Hammer was tapped to play a different take on Batman. The now-scrapped project would’ve seen Hammer’s caped crusader alongside the Justice League. But Hammer revealed he was actually relieved plans didn’t fall through, as he was sure he would’ve made a terrible Batman.
Armie Hammier felt that he would’ve made a terrible Batman
As some know, George Miller planned to direct the canceled Justice League Mortal. The film was supposed to come out when Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy was still in theaters. However, The Hollywood Reporter noted that Nolan allegedly didn’t like the idea of two Batmen on screen. Apart from that, the writer’s strike from 2007-2008 also made it difficult for the movie to get off the ground.
While still in its infancy, Justice League Mortal already had a cast in mind to portray Warner Bros’ iconic superheroes. DJ Cotrona was set to play Superman. Megan Gale and Adrian Brody were Wonder Woman and Flash, respectively. Common was Green Lantern, and a very young Hammer was tapped as the next actor to play Batman.
The project would eventually fall through, with none of the actors in mind ever portraying their roles. In hindsight, Hammer was glad the project never came to fruition, as he felt he wasn’t ready to be Batman.
“I would have made a terrible Batman,” Hammer told Yahoo. “Really terrible. It’s too young. No one wants to see a 19-year-old Batman. What can a 19-year-old do?”
What drew Hammer to the project wasn’t just the Batman character. It was the fact that Mad Max director George Miller would helm the project.
“The thing I really loved about that project was the fact that George Miller was doing it. I thought that it was really cool to create – this was before Marvel had done it and before DC had done it – it was going to be really cool to see a world where all of these superheroes were on camera for the first time, and I thought that was great,” Hammer said.
Armie Hammer stole the ‘Justice League Mortal’ script when the movie was scrapped
In an interview with IMDb, Armie Hammer revealed that he and the cast were already shooting when the studio canned the project.
“But yeah, it was amazing we were down in Australia for like a month or two months doing shoots, doing rehearsals in the suits, all the characters in their suits, and then we get a call one day from the producers saying we need everyone to come in and bring all of your materials,” Hammer said.
Afterward, Hammer and the cast proceeded to pack up their costumes and film equipment to the studio. But not before the actor took a souvenir home with him.
“I quickly snuck a CD out of my computer, put it in my back pocket, turned it all in, and I managed to basically steal a script but other than that, I had nothing to show for it,” he revealed. “I’m sure there are pictures floating around somewhere with all of us in our costumes, but yeah, you know the tax budget all kinda went away in Australia, and then the government had a huge reform, and they sent us home.”
Was Armie Hammer ever in the running for Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman?’
When Matt Reeves was getting ready to cast the new Batman for his film, fans ran wild with casting speculation. Websites like Comic Book reported that Reeves was looking for actors in their late 20s to don the cape and cowl. This led some to consider the young actors that could’ve filled the part, with Hammer’s name coming up frequently.
Some had even claimed that Armie Hammer was in the later stages of being Reeves’ official Batman.
“No one who can actually give me the job has asked me if I’m interested,” Hammer once told Yahoo. “I don’t even know if they are done – they are still working on a script. I don’t think that they are close to production, but I can conclusively tell you that no one has checked my availability, which is a bummer.”
The Batman role would later go to Robert Pattinson. But ironically, Hammer was once set to star as Batman in the now-scrapped Justice League project.
