As Milo Ventimiglia recently discovered, playing Batman is a young man’s game. In a new interview with Variety, the This Is Us actor revealed that he was interested in playing Gotham City’s legendary Dark Knight, only Warner Bros. wasn’t on the same page.
“Do I see myself in a cape and cowl? Warner Brothers didn’t,” Ventimiglia said. “They said, ‘Ventimiglia, you’re too old.’” It’s a low blow for the 42-year-old actor, whose star power continues to climb on the NBC series, but he’s not troubled.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t matter,” Ventimiglia added. “By the way, I’m kind of busy.” No kidding. Last month, the son of Rocky Balboa was nominated for an Emmy for This Is Us, and he’ll soon hit the screen in The Art of Racing in the Rain on August 9th.
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Ultimately, the role went to Robert Pattinson, whose mug is a fresh-faced 33. While that may seem like a low number, it should be noted that Christian Bale was only 30 years old when he began filming Christopher Nolan’s 2005 reboot Batman Begins.
By comparison, Ben Affleck was 43 when he signed on for 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, George Clooney was 36 ahead of 1997’s Batman and Robin, Val Kilmer was 35 going into Batman Forever, and Michael Keaton was 38 prior to 1989’s Batman.
Okay, so maybe Milo is a little too old.
Regardless, Pattinson is heading into Gotham City for a three-picture deal under the vision of Apes director Matthew Reeves. He’ll reportedly face off against a rogue’s gallery of villains fresh outta Arkham Asylum.
