Products You May Like
Whether you are at all interested in the bizarre life and career of Armie Hammer or you are a huge Batman fan like me, you probably have heard the news of the actor’s first post-controversy role in an upcoming movie called The Dark Knight. No, that is not a typo and I meant to write the word “night.” The Social Network star is aiming to make a comeback in a project synonymous with one of the best live-action Batman movies ever made.
According to Variety, the film from writer and director Uwe Boll (known for helming many critically reviled movies based on video games) is described as a vigilante thriller, yet executive producer Michael Roesch assures that this Dark Knight is “very different from [Christopher] Nolan’s movie, so there is no danger of confusion.” Even if that is true (the inevitable “confusion” notwithstanding), this upcoming superhero movie does share a loose but intriguing connection to a certain DC character that not many people are talking about. Allow me to enlighten you, or at least refresh your memory, about it.
Armie Hammer Almost Played Batman
One of the most infamous cancelled comic book movies is Justice League: Mortal, which was to be helmed by Academy Award-nominated visionary George Miller before a myriad of circumstances, including the 2008 Writers’ Strike, led to its premature demise, according to MovieWeb. Had the film not been shelved, we could have seen a unique take on the DC superhero collective staring future Shazam! actor Adam Brody as The Flash, future Mad Max: Fury Road star Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, and as Batman… Armie Hammer.
Yes, years before 2010s-era movie classics like The Social Network in 2010 and 2017’s Call Me By Your Name made him a star, the actor’s mainstream breakthrough almost came sooner when he was cast as George Miller’s Bruce Wayne. So, this is technically the second time that Hammer was up to play “The Dark Knight.” Call me overzealous but I think it might also be the last.
This Is Likely The Closest Armie Hammer Will Come To Fulfilling That Lost Opportunity
In 2017, Armie Hammer claimed he was glad Justice League: Mortal never happened since he was only 19 at the time but did say, in 2019, that he would jump at the chance to play the lead of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which ultimately went to Robert Pattinson. Of course, the opportunity to play the Caped Crusader is currently back on with James Gunn and co. looking to cast the official iteration for the DCU (which exists outside of the Batman Epic Crime Saga) but I don’t think there is a chance of Hammer getting that call.
For those unaware, the actor’s career took a steep decline in 2021 following allegations of sexual assault and cannibalism that led him to seek treatment for issues involving sex, drug addiction, and alcoholism. While the charges against him were dropped after an investigation, the road he went down is still a hard one to come back from, and the fact that an Uwe Boll movie is meant to be his comeback picture should say a lot about the state of his career. Subsequent evidence has shown that Hammer could have made a good Batman but this Dark Knight is probably the best consolation he will receive.
Will I Watch Armie Hammer In Uwe Boll’s The Dark Knight?
Even before the horrifying allegations against him came out, I was never really a huge champion for Armie Hammer, despite enjoying his performances in movies like Sorry to Bother You, the spy movie classic (in my opinion) The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and the underrated Free Fire. On top of that, I have never seen an Uwe Boll movie because I have been warned against the idea by multiple sources.
So, in other words, I do not think I will be going out of my way to see The Dark Knight, which begins shooting in Croatia relatively soon. Then again, speaking as someone who religiously keeps tabs on superhero movies and any upcoming titles related to Batman and considering the strange connections between this film and the character, I have to admit that I am somewhat intrigued.
You know, despite Hammer’s controversies and Boll’s negative reputation in the filmgoing community, I would not be surprised if The Dark Knight becomes an ironic hit, because of curiosity to see how it will turn out or the potential fun in pointing out any shameless rip-offs from the similarly-named Nolan movie. That being said, I wonder how soon it will be forced to change its name.