Glen Powell as Batman? The Twisters star teases his ‘wild take’ on Bruce Wayne

Glen Powell is Hollywood’s next big star. The 35-year-old actor is in the middle of a meteoric rise to the A-list, highlighted by his starring roles in Top Gun: Maverick and Anyone But You. Because of his charisma, looks, and talent, Powell is a viable candidate to play a superhero. To that end, could Batman be in Powell’s future?

In an interview with GQ, Powell toured the Warner Bros. lot and passed the new Superman logo in James Gunn’s DC Universe. Although he has no interest in playing a superhero, Powell does have any idea for his version of a comic book character.

“I was always a Batman guy,” Powell said when comparing the Caped Crusader with Superman. “I would have a wild take on Batman. It definitely would not be like a Matt Reeves tone – it’d probably be closer to [Michael] Keaton.” Later in the interview, Keaton fawned over Keaton’s Batmobile.

Despite his lack of interest in joining a superhero franchise, Powell is creating a Captain Planet television series, with Leonardo DiCaprio on board to produce. Powell also had a minor role in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. Powell played Trader No. 1, the stockbroker whose head gets smashed by Bane at the Gotham Stock Exchange.

Before saving the day as Hangman in Top Gun: Maverick, Powell was in the running to play two of cinema’s most famous characters: Captain America and Han Solo. According to Powell, he screwed up the audition to play Captain America, with the part going to Chris Evans. Powell also came extremely close to playing Han Solo in Solo: A Star Wars Story. The younger version of Harrison Ford’s character was played by Alden Ehrenreich.

Powell’s star power will soar into a new stratosphere over the next two months. Powell headlines Hit Man, an action comedy he produced and co-wrote with Richard Linklater. Powell also stars alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones in Twisters, the standalone sequel to 1996’s Twister. Hit Man streams on Netflix starting June 7, 2024, while Twisters heads to theaters on July 19, 2024.