After last week’s shocking, out of the blue, and somewhat controversial announcement that Ben Affleck had signed on to play Batman in the Man of Steel sequel, the rumor mill and casting news has gone off the rails. Obviously the casting of Affleck caught everyone off guard, and opened to gates to anyone and/or anything being possible in terms of who could be cast in what role in the upcoming film. Throwing all the rules out the door has lead the the way for any casting rumor to potentially grow legs and become the next big headline, because to most, nothing is going to seem as outrageous as “Been Affleck is Batman”. One website in particular, which is notorious for posting false “Exclusives” to gain hits has taken advantage of this with building an “Exclusive” around Bryan Cranston being cast as Lex Luthor in the MOS sequel. What’s truly shocking is the number of major media outlets that have picked up on this story as if it’s been confirmed. I knew something was up when I heard it on Bob and Tom, but then Rolling Stone, io9, E! online, and others have picked up the story, all crediting Cosmic Book News (the aforementioned website).
It’s crazy to me that a story that claims Cranston has been cast as Luthor in a deal that includes at least 6 “appearances”, also includes that Affleck has signed on for 13 appearances, and that DC are looking at Matt Damon for either Aquaman or Martian Manhunter, could be considered legitimit enough to use as a source. (Oh, for those wondering, they also claim that Mark Strong could still play Sinestro, but that’s one of the reasons he wasn’t cast as Luthor). I questioned the legitimacy of the claim, and was waiting for official confirmation before posting it here on the site, but of course there is none, from Cranston or the studio or anyone else. But wait! They covered this issue as well over at Cosmic Book News as they claim an official announcement will not be made until the conclusion of the final season of Breaking Bad as “WB wants to dovetail off the end of that.” How amazingly convenient.
Oh, and for their latest bit of news, (no doubt to take advantage of the spike in traffic they are no doubt getting) they are now claiming that Zack Snyder is looking toward Timothy Dalton to play Alfred, so be prepared to see that plastered everywhere soon too.
I’m not saying that these casting rumors couldn’t or won’t come true. My point is right now, they are just that; RUMORS, and everyone is trying to jump on that latest rumor and make it reality, hoping to be one of the first to snag the headline. Cosmic Book News has done that, and has, to their credit, played the part perfectly in that they’ve hooked many sites into reporting their “exclusive” while certain sites like CBM and AintitCool have refrained from posting it until official confirmation, a practice I’ll be following as well.
To sum all this up, since the announcement of Ben Affleck being cast as Batman, nothing else has been confirmed for the MOS sequel. While everyone and their mom is reporting that Cranston is Luthor and other such headlines, nothing has been confirmed (or denied) by any parties involved. Fact is, I blame the complete shock of Affleck’s casting as the catalyst for this latest rumor to expand the way it has.