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Tom Hanks Wants To Play A Batman Villian

October 18, 2013
Catherine St. Ives
Tom Hanks
103 Comments

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Tom Hanks is kind of adorable. He gave an interview where he pleaded to be a superhero villain, particularly someone in the Batman universe. I guess seeing Tom Hanks as a villain would be something new, and if Ben Affleck can play Batman, anything is possible. Here’s what he told Showbiz 411 via Huffington Post:

They don’t ask me, man. I keep trying. Come on, I can do it. I can do it. Even let me play a bad guy, let me play the bad guy against Batman. I’ll do anything, call me. They’ve never asked. What do I gotta do? God, I want to throw a shield at somebody. I want that. And I don’t want to play the guy in the suit who tells the superheroes what’s going on, I don’t want to be that guy. ‘Well, you know Batman, Captain America, Iron Man, here’s what we’ve discovered,’ I don’t want to be that guy. I want to get in there, I want to play The Flash or something like that. They’ll never give me a chance.

Someone in the comments section pointed out that if the dad from Malcolm in the Middle can play a badass meth cook, Tom Hanks can totally play a comic book movie villain.

Could YOU see Tom Hanks as a Batman villain?

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103 CommentsLeave a comment

  • I can’t imagine which villain he might be, but the guy is one of the best living actors and has already played a variety of roles. Did you ever see the clip of him doing a slam poem about Full House? He certainly has range to spare. If not a Batman villain, I am sure he would be great in some other franchise.

  • Of course he could play a batman villian or any villian. There’s not a role out there he couldn’t play…I could see him as the “Ventriquist”, holding scar face. But that could be too cartoonish, unless done in a Pyscho sort of way.

    • Oooh. I kind of like the Ventriloquist idea. I don’t think it’ll be cartoony as long as WB doesn’t try and pull something silly like making Scarface resemble say a cowboy or something..

  • Villains wear infinity scarves. :) LOL. I have never seen a male wearing on until this photo. Nice pick.

  • Dude, he would make an awesome Riddler…at the very least it would help get the taste of Jim Carrey’s version out of our mouths

  • Robin Williams begged nolan a few years back to be apart of the Dark Knight franchise in empire magazine even going so far as offering to be a background player (extra). I guess we have a few brilliant actors that are beating down the door to be a apart of the batman franchise, i think RW will be a better Hugo strange. But there is space for TH as he has proved himself in Cloud Atlas, i just dont know as what character.

  • Give it to him! It’ll be interesting to see Tom Hanks in a superhero movie for a change, with his caliber background of serious characters. Let him have fun, he’s certainly earned it! :)

    • You’re not dumb, I could totally see that. If Spacey effed it up first go-round, no reason Tom shouldn’t get his shot!

  • Hanks could be a superb villain in that tricky category of civil, subtle evil…which can often be the most frightening.

    The same qualities that make him come across as such a nice guy would suit him SO well for something like this. No, he’s never going to be a Bane or a Joker. Instead, he needs to be that villain who never raises his voice, and does what he does with the complete, utter conviction that his crazed view of the world is the correct one.

    What I’m saying is that he would be a superb reboot of The Riddler. None of the manic, giggling mugging of Jim Carrey here. Instead, if he plays it as a “nice guy” who thinks life and death is a game, he could be brilliant.

  • With him playing a vilian in Road to Perdition i could see him playing Black Mask maybe………. Johnathan Crain aka Scarecrow or i could see him as a Comissioner Gordon i dont see him as a Hugo Strange as someone else commented i could see Robin Williams play a good Hugo.

  • if he could commit to the workout to get himself into fighting shape, I would believe him as deathstroke

  • Black Mask all the way. A business man working with Lex Luthor to kill off both superheros. They could bring in a Supervillian thats extremly powerful to fight both superman and batman as a result of their combind efforts.

  • [“I guess seeing Tom Hanks as a villain would be something new, and if Ben Affleck can play Batman, anything is possible.”]

    I’ve seen Tom Hanks in “CLOUD ATLAS”. Trust me, he can be a very effective villain. As for Ben Affleck . . . get over it . . . please. He can play Batman with one hand tied behind his back and hopping on one foot. This stupid belief that he may be miscast as Batman is just ridiculous.

  • how about calendar man…..commits crimes that correlate with holidays and batman being a detective needs to figure his moves or motives…maybe he can play hush….or manbat….or maybe simon hurt…(Was originally an unnamed scientist in the story “Robin Dies at Dawn” and was later revived as Doctor Simon Hurt over 40 years later claiming to be Thomas Wayne (Batman’s father). He leads the Black Glove and later the Club of Villains. It is later revealed he is an ancestor of Thomas Wayne also named Thomas Wayne who has become immortal due to an encounter with an alien weapon, the Hyper-Adapter.

  • Mr. Freeze, he’s got that tragic love angle that’s great. I couldn’t see him being anything but a tragic villain.

  • Everyone keeps forgetting the “Black Mask”. That could be the villain that Hanks can play and since “Black Mask” hasn’t really been explored Hanks can have at it.

  • The Riddler. Tom Hanks would be amazing. An amazing actor like that begging for a chance will nail it through a brick wall. Let Hanks play the Riddler. Honestly, who can do it better? And please don’t say Johnny Depp.

    • While I like Depp, I completely agree with you. When people were clamoring for him to be Riddler in Nolan’s 3rd movie, I was seriously thinking that David Hyde Pierce would be a better fit for Nolan’s possible vision of the character.

      • I love the idea of David Hyde Pierce as the Riddler.

        I agree that Mr. Hanks has the gravitas, plus the right age and height, to pull off Deathstroke (given some time to bulk up for it).

        I think he could pull off any number of Batman villains, but it sounds like he wants to dig into a character in a more hands on kind of way – Professor Pyg would be a fun one for him. Dr. Hurt also could be good.

  • Of course I would love to see him play a supervillian! Look at how great Jeff Bridges was in the first Iron Man! Don’t underestimate the Ole Guys Club!

  • When is someone going to just invent a new villian for a comic book movie. Why not lets Hanks and whoever collaborate on a new character? Who says there are rules?

  • Viggo Mortensen or Mads Mikkelsen as Dr Hugo Strange… Hanks would be great as something new altogether… DC within the Dark Knight universe could make something fit.

    • @DCT Considering he’s one of the biggest box office draws in the world, I don’t think he has to grasp very hard to stay on top. Jerk.

  • Why had no one thought of the penguin. I mean it was done years ago but I could totally due with an updated and new spin on this classic batman villain. Plus spun ye right way it could bring a totally new far to this character. Hanks would be great for this role… I also have to concur on the mad hatter and ten though I liked Jim carries riddler ( which was about the only redeeming quality of that movie) I think hanks could pull off a new side of hat character that we could love… Honestly I think he would play a great new penguin though and possible do it without all the quacking

  • Hanks could probably play a sweet Ra’s al Ghul for sure since he’s considering a villain, I could see that working.. Maybe even The Ventriloquist or The Mad Hatter, give em a roll ppl!!

    • The Ventriloquist for sure.. totally agreed… I can already picture Tom slightly cowering behind the cigar smoke of this angry wooden Mob boss.

  • He could play a number of great villains. Black mask (he’d still have to wear a suit). Hugo Strange, The Mad Hatter or The Ventriloquist would be great because they’d be a huge departure from Hanks’s normal roles and they’re crazy as &$*#. Imagine Tom Hanks with a ventriloquist mob boss dummy, with a tommy gun…that’d be awesome. I could definitely see him doing mad hatter though, especially with his performances in the polar express, he can go all over the place with that character.

    • if u were not so big headed and full of judgement like a fuck head maybe you would see that hanks would play a awesome villain

  • It would be nice to see Tom as a villian for a change and I agree with everyone .. The Mad Hatter or the Riddler would be perfect for him.. DC should just write a new villian just for him actually ..

  • If Ben can be the new Batman, then Tom Hanks can surely be a villain.

    It should be fun to see Tom in a villainous role.

    Show his acting chops.

    In fact I think I like that idea…I like it a LOT!

    • Hugo Strange could definitly be cool to see

      Other DC villains he’d be a good match for: Captain Cold
      David Cain
      And in his interview he pleas for HERO or villain. I think he’d make a great wildcat out of all of them.

      MarcATL Mr. Freeze has always been an older villain. He shouldn’t be played by a younger star at all. Not to mention He would be a way better choice then Arnold Schwarzenegger.

  • I think it’d be great if he got his chance. Seems like he’s earned the benefit of the doubt by now!

  • Difinitly hugo strange or cobble pot
    He is an amazing enough actor to be given a roll
    After all the amazing works hes done
    Plus I love it when actors show us some of their range

  • Would be good to see Hanks play an evil role.
    And may I say that Bryan Cranstan not only plays a bad ass meth cook, but has also signed on to be Lex in the new man of steel film I believe?

    • No, the Bryan Cranston/ Lex Luthor rumor turned out to be nothing more. It would have been awesome but dc is a poo head :p I agree with you about Hanks, though

  • Deffinately Hugo Strange. They should put Strange in a movie anyways, and if an amazing actor like Tom Hanks wants to be in the movie, let him!

  • To a degree he played a villain in Cloud Atlas (the doctor poisoning his patient for pretty buttons and the key to his chest), and he did a pretty good job of it too.

  • Since they’re rebooting the Batman story again, I say let him play Two-Face. Great potential.

  • I never envisioned Micheal Keaton as Batman and he did an amazing job for Tim Burton in the 1989 hit film. For Tom Hanks to be begging to do an evil role, I would definitely fit him into a role of a complex character. Willem Dafoe did an awesome job as the Green Goblin in Spiderman, I don’t see why Tom Hanks couldn’t equally surprise us all as a villain. Screen test the man, see what he’s got. He has passion, I like that.