Armie Hammer has been associated with superhero roles for years, even without ever actually playing one. In fact, he was even supposed to portray Batman in George Miller's ill-fated Justice League Mortal toward the beginning of his career. The project never panned out, but Hammer recently stated while promoting the release of Call Me by Your Name that he's glad he didn't play the Justice League's brooding hero at 19 because that would've been too young for a convincing Batman. Hammer explained:
As a 31-year-old who's been through a lot since I was 19, I wouldn't want to watch a 19-year-old Batman. I'd be like, 'Who's this spoiled rich kid who wants to play dress-up?'
It's pretty easy to see what Armie Hammer is getting at with these remarks. In most traditional versions of the Batman narrative, Bruce Wayne dons the cape and cowl for his Year One moment sometime in his late twenties. This is a character who supposedly spent decades of his life turning himself into a perfect weapon and detective, so to see a 19-year-old actor portray a supposedly fully-formed Batman might not read well with audiences. At least, that's what Armie Hammer thinks looking back on the experience.
Beyond the believability of a 19-year-old Bruce Wayne trying to brood his way through a Justice League movie, Armie Hammer also seems to think that he lacked the experience to take on the role at the time. The actor continued in his conversation with Vulture to talk about the importance of struggling at the beginning of his career to develop a craft, noting,
I used to be upset we didn't get to do it, but everything happens exactly as it's supposed to. I still have a lot of learning to do about this, and it's a constant pursuit for me. If I had been that successful right out of the gate, I would have thought I already understood it all. I know that I wouldn't have turned in a great performance, or even a good performance -- it would have just been whatever. So I'm glad.
It's not entirely outside the realm of possibility that Armie Hammer could one day step in to portray The Dark Knight. Rumors have swirled for years that he would eventually become a DC hero (with possibilities ranging from Hal Jordan to Shazam), and at 31 years old, he still has plenty of time to age into the role of Bruce Wayne. With rumors continuing to hint that Batfleck might retire sometime soon, then Hammer could finally get a chance to don the cowl for the very first time.
With regards to the current incarnation of The Caped Crusader, you can catch Ben Affleck's Batman in Zack Snyder's Justice League, which opens in theaters this weekend on November 17. Make sure to get your tickets for the long-awaited DC superhero epic now, and check out CinemaBlend's review, as well as what other critics have to say about the film. As for Armie Hammer, you can catch him in Call Me by Your Name, which opens in theaters on November 24.
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