Photo Credit: DC Comics
Alan Ritchson has confirmed he’s had conversations about joining James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU.
Ritchson is known for playing the titular character in Amazon Prime Video’s Reacher series. He also played Arthur Curry/Aquaman in a handful of episodes of Smallville and starred as Hank Hall/Hawk in the Titans series. His Hawk character appeared in a number of other DC series as well, including Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow.
What did Alan Ritchson say about the DCU?
Ever since Gunn and Safran’s DCU kicked off in late 2024, Ritchson’s name has constantly come up when it comes to Batman fancasts. Now, speaking with ScreenRant, Ritchson has confirmed he’s having discussions about joining the shared DC universe; however, he seemingly isn’t circling the role of Batman, as he says he wants to play somebody “a little messier.”
“Yeah,” Ritchson said when asked if there was a chance of him joining the DCU and if he’d potentially be interested in playing a villain. “Yes. That’s the conversation that I’ve been having with them is like, ‘I want to play somebody a little messier.’ And I told them, I said, if I’m going to do this, I described to them the kind of personality that I’d want to play and what that would mean to their world, and I think it’s something everybody wants to see right now over there. So yes, I want to play somebody a little dirtier than your typical clean-cut protagonist.”
For now, there’s no telling what role Ritchson might be circling or what DCU project he might appear in. Clayface, Lanterns, and Supergirl all seem unlikely (unless they were able to keep Ritchson’s casting a secret, a near-impossible task in 2025 when set photos frequently get leaked), given that those projects are well into development and coming out next year.
Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess. There’s been no official announcement from Gunn, DC Studios, or Warner Bros. Pictures about Ritchson starring in the DCU at this time.
