According to new reports, 74-year-old Stellan Skarsgård just said no thank you to a huge role in The Batman Part II.
With production expected to kick off in about six weeks time, Matt Reeves is finalizing the cast, which already has a long list of powerful actors. Almost every major role is sorted. Almost. Christopher Dent, the father of Harvey Dent, remains uncast. And according to Jeff Sneider on The Hot Mic, Skarsgård declined the offer to play the controversial character.
Brad Pitt was previously in talks for the very same role before scheduling conflicts pulled him out of Gotham (possibly because of the F1 sequel?). And while Brad is great, there’s no doubt that Skarsgård would’ve brought serious gravitas to the part. Dent’s abusive father isn’t just another background character in the story. In fact, in many of the comic book arcs, he’s the psychological spark behind Harvey’s descent and usually his first victim when the Two-Face alter-ego eventually takes over.
Of course Skarsgård’s decision tracks with what he’s said about television and long-form storytelling. The Andor star made it clear that he is very picky with roles, especially ones for TV. “I made an exception for Andor because that wasn’t traditional television,” he told The Film Stage. Then he went further. “Normal television writing is: everything is in the text, everything is explained. So it doesn’t matter who plays it or who directs it; people will understand it even while they’re doing the wash or cleaning the kitchen. It’s poor man’s storytelling, easy and cheap. I get depressed when I watch it.”
That’s not to say that it’s the reason why Skarsgård turned down The Batman Part II. It’s not a TV show. It’s not made using that formula either. And there are no small parts.
And Reeves isn’t building a safe sequel anyway. Speaking to Josh Horowitz at the Emmys, he said, “[In] a lot of the other films, which I love, once you get past the origin tale… then you start telling the Rogues Gallery story… But I never wanted to lose Robert Pattinson at the centre of these stories, and so that is really what we set our aim on.” So, yes, Bruce Wayne and Batman come first in this franchise.
As for the villain (or villains), Reeves teased on Happy Sad Confused that it’s someone who has “never really been done in a movie before.” That’s sent fans racing toward Hush and the Court of Owls, especially after clues in The Batman (2022) and HBO’s The Penguin series. It could also be loosely from Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, even if Dent and his family aren’t central to that story, much like how The Batman cherry-picked elements from The Long Halloween and Year One rather than copying them outright.
But Sebastian Stan is reportedly stepping in as Harvey Dent, with Scarlett Johansson joining the ensemble that already includes Robert Pattinson, Colin Farrell, Jeffrey Wright and Barry Keoghan. Zoë Kravitz won’t return, unfortunately.
So, yes, The Batman Part II‘s chessboard of villains and heroes is almost set. One key piece still waits.
RELATED: James Gunn’s Batman Movie Lands a Writer… and the Internet Is Already Worried
