Is Josh Gad The Penguin To Ben Affleck’s Batman? Actor Teases He’s Joining The DC Extended Universe
Josh Gad has taken to Twitter to tease that he might be joining the DC Extended Universe as the Penguin, uploading an image of himself standing alongside Jon Berg and Geoff Johns, both of whom work very high up in the DCEU as its co-presidents.
It wasn’t just the fact that Josh Gad, Jon Berg, and Geoff Johns were standing alongside each other in one of DC Comics’ buildings, but that he was holding onto a Batman comic book with the Penguin on the front. You can check out the image, which Josh Gad captioned with “Nothing to see here…,” below.
This isn’t the first time that Josh Gad has teased that he might be joining the DC Extended Universe as the Penguin. Back on May 2 Josh Gad took to his Twitter account to simply upload an image of the Penguin, which immediately sparked speculation that he was in negotiations to join the DCEU.
While plenty of moviegoers were rather excited about the possibility of Josh Gad portraying the classic DC Comics character, who was previously played by Danny DeVito in Batman Returns, some were quick to point out that Josh Gad was actually a little too young to do so.
Nothing to see here… pic.twitter.com/3wIc1Fj4Wr
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) June 2, 2017
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) May 2, 2017
However, that didn’t stop the rumors about Josh Gad signing up as the Penguin from circulating, and when he appeared at the MTV Movie And TV Awards in the middle of May, he was asked pointedly by MTV for the latest news on whether he was actually joining the DCEU as the character. Josh Gad insisted that he was only trying to have fun with the people on the internet, before he then suggested that he was trying to just test the water, too.
“Just having some fun. Just having some fun. That’s it. Really. I promise. There’s nothing to… there’s no there there. I promise. You know what the internet just goes wild – I’m just having some fun. Just putting things out there.”
This then provoked Josh Gad to be asked whether or not he’s ever met Matt Reeves, the filmmaker that has been tasked with bringing the next solo Batman film to fruition. Josh Gad insisted that he hasn’t, before then calling him “a lovely guy” and adding that he loves his past films, which have included Cloverfield, Let Me In, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, and the upcoming War For The Planet Of The Apes.
After praising Matt Reeves as a director, Josh Gad was then asked, “Would you be against playing the Penguin in a Batman movie?” Josh Gad then proceeded to add even more fuel to the fire by declaring that he would be open to such a role.
“No, never. I would absolutely be open to playing the Penguin in the Batman movie. There’s nothing more we need to talk about. It’s all… we’ll see. You know it’s all we’ll see. Putting it out in the ether.”
From the sound of things, Josh Gad was trying to use his social media presence to generate some buzz and momentum about him potentially starring in the role. Josh Gad probably got the idea after a video of him quizzing Daisy Ridley about Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and specifically her role in the blockbuster, immediately went viral. Josh Gad then decided to follow up this clip with several more, the last of which also starred J.J. Abrams and Chris Pratt, and was just as popular. Various other actors have used social media to get roles, as Vin Diesel previously lobbied hard to star in Guardians Of The Galaxy, and he was eventually cast to voice the character of Groot.
[Featured Image by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]
