Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Joe Manganiello On Batman Shortlist For ‘Batman Vs. Superman’

The general fan consensus says that Jon Hamm, age 42, should play Batman in Zack Snyder‘s Batman Vs. Superman. As we reported last week, WB is rumored to be looking for someone to play an older and more experienced Batman in the sequel to Man of Steel. The name makes plenty of scene, as Hamm has the swagger, he has the age, and other qualities that make him the perfect fit to play Batman. Since the announcement was made at Comic-Con last month, news on who could play as Batman has remained on the down low.

Heat Vision reports that Warner Bros. does have a shortlist of actors they are considering to play the Caped Crusader: The Gangster Squad‘s Josh Brolin (36), The Place Beyond The Pines star Ryan Gosling (32), True Blood‘s Joe Manganiello (36), The Hobbit star Richard Armitage (41), The Watchman‘s Matthew Goode (35), and Max Martini (43).

WB is adamant that Brolin will be the one to play Batman, as he already starred in the Gangster Squad, and is in talks to play in the untitled Quasimodo project and Crazy for the Storm. While he doesn’t fit the age description, he can bring in a more grizzled Batman than we are used to seeing in live-action films.

Gosling, who also played in Gangster Squad, is the youngest on WB’s shortlist, so he may be out. Goode has worked with Snyder before, so there is the working relationship factor. Armitage and Martini have both starred in WB films as well. Armitage in all three installments of The Hobbit, and Martini in Pacific Rim.

But it looks like Manganiello is the one we should be looking out for. Before finally settling on Henry Cavill, Snyder was considering Manganiello to play Superman. However, the actor’s role in HBO’s True Blood may conflict with Batman Vs. Superman‘s production schedule.

It’s still way to soon to tell who will be playing Batman, considering that they are still in the very early stages of writing the script. For all we know, WB may even throw a curve ball and not pick one of them. As you may have noticed, Hamm’s name wasn’t even on the list, so there is that possibility.

But WB will announce a name in the coming weeks, since they want to start production in 2014 for a 2015 release.