Update, August 6: Why would an unknown even surface for the biggest role at DC? The Paramount merger contract explains the entire Batman stall — an unknown is the path of least Paramount.
Update, July 29: James Gunn has now directly addressed the already-cast rumor at the center of this story, replying “De and bunked” on Threads: no DCU Batman has been cast.
This is part of our ongoing coverage of James Gunn's Superman sequel. Full details in our Man of Tomorrow guide.
A new name is in the DCU Batman mix.
YouTuber John Campea says Mitchell Slaggert is one of the actors being considered to play Batman for James Gunn’s DC Studios.
Who Is Mitchell Slaggert?
Slaggert is a model-turned-actor who was scouted on the street in Wilmington, North Carolina.
As a model, he has been the face of Calvin Klein Underwear, Versace, Dsquared2, David Yurman and Jean Paul Gaultier.
On screen, he starred in the indie film Moss, which premiered at the 2017 LA Film Festival, and appeared in Wish Upon opposite Joey King and Ryan Phillippe.
More recently, he played Jackson in Season 2 of The Sex Lives of College Girls and Ryder in the first season of Taylor Sheridan’s Landman.
That last one is a notable wrinkle. Landman is a Paramount+ series, and Paramount is currently in the process of buying Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Batman Search So Far
Campea previously said he believed the DCU Batman had already been cast and that he knew the name, describing it as one he wouldn’t have guessed.
That set off weeks of speculation pointing to English actor Tom Brittney, who then declined to deny it on live TV.
What I’ve been told is that Alan Ritchson is the frontrunner, and that the Batman casting question is directly tied to why The Batman Part II moved to February 2028.
Ritchson has since gone speechless when asked about Batman on Happy Sad Confused, signing off the interview with a “detective” clue, before telling Comic-Con’s Reacher panel days later that Batman is not in the cards and his DC conversations are about another character.
Gunn has said publicly that Batman is his biggest issue at DC, and that the priority has been getting the script right before anything else.
The Brave and the Bold still has no release date and no director, which fits what my insiders have described: a Batman plan that has stalled.
The Bigger Question
Whoever is on the list, my sources say the people making the pick may not be the ones making it much longer.
Gunn and Safran’s exits are pegged to the Paramount-WBD closing date, with Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy expected to take over.
A Batman shortlist assembled now still has to survive that handoff.
Treat this one as rumor. It’s Campea’s information, and DC Studios has not commented.
Don’t expect an answer at San Diego, either. DC’s Comic-Con plans are comics-focused, with no Hall H movie panel.
