'The Batman': John Turturro Cast As A Crime Boss In Matt Reeves' Film

No film of 2020 has been poured over more in the last 18 months than Matt Reeves’ “The Batman,” starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader. Bloggers tried to get in on every whisper, sometimes falling flat on their face in the case of one report that said Armie Hammer had bagged the Batman role, and the trades have been jockeying for dominance in the bragging rights to scoops. But tonight, one critical piece of casting has been dropped unbeknownst to anyone in advance; on Twitter, Reeves himself revealed that John Turturro (“The Big Lebowski”) has been cast as the crime syndicate boss Ben Falcone (Reeves has confirmed all the recent casting via Twitter).

Turturro joins a cast that includes Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, as Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, Paul Dano, playing the Riddler, Colin Farrell, as the Penguin, Jeffrey Wright, appearing as commissioner Gordon and Andy Serkis, who is playing Alfred the butler and loyal servant to Bruce Wayne.

Falcone is perhaps best remembered as a mob boss played by Tom Wilkinson in Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” trilogy. Yet, the character was first introduced into the Batman mythos decades ago in the seminal and highly influential four-part story “Batman: Year One,” written by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli in 1987.

Turturro is known for his work in several Coen Brothers films and perhaps most famously in the role of Jesus in “The Big Lebowski.” He has directed his own Coen brother-sanctioned sequel, “The Jesus Rolls,” which opens in 2020.

If “The Batman” seems crowded with villains, well, keep in mind, Reeves is rumored to be playing the long-game of layering in a world that will take place over a trilogy of films, so it may not be as choked full of bad guys as it sounds, but we’ll find out semi-soon. “The Batman” is scheduled to hit theaters on June 25, 2021, via Warner Bros.

???? I said… #CarmineFalcone pic.twitter.com/wa5zNuVwPg

— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) November 22, 2019