Jake Gyllenhaal Says He Will Not Be The Next Batman

Jake Gyllenhaal is not into capes and cowls right now.

According to the actor himself, the star of Nightcrawler, Brokeback Mountain, and Donnie Darko will not be signing on as the dark knight of Gotham City in the upcoming DC film The Batman.

Rumors of Gyllenhaal's involvement in the next Batman movie have been swirling for months, after multiple sources reported that Matt Reeves, the movie's director, wanted the former Prince of Persia for the role. 

There hasn't been much noise about the casting rumor since those initial reports. Even at the time, the idea that Reeves wanted Gyllenhaal didn't mean that Gyllenhaal was reciprocating in his interest. 

Thanks to an interview with CNA Lifestyle (reported on by Batman-News), Gyllenhaal has finally made his involvement with The Batman clear.

Asked point-blank if he would be playing Batman in The Batman, Gyllenhaal replied, "wow, that's a very difficult question. The answer to that question is 'no'". 

Batman-News points out that Jason Momoa spent about a year lying about being cast as Aquaman, swearing it was only a rumor, and who knows? Maybe the same thing's happening here. We all know these Hollywood types are big dang liars. But if you take Gyllenhaal at his word, it's about as clear of a denial as there can be.

One thing is all-but-certain: while Ben Affleck may have another turn as Batman ahead of him in The Flash, the actor won't be going on a solo adventure as the character — a pretty big pivot for a guy who was once announced as directing, writing, and starring in the movie.

As much as we'd like to believe him, we won't really know if Gyllenhaal's telling the total truth until another actor enters the conversation. To that end, there is one challenger who's supposedly been agitating for a chance to go from mad man to Batman — Jon Hamm. Now that Gyllenhaal appears to have taken himself out of the running, we'll see if anything comes of that.

The next movie in the DC Extended Universe, Aquaman, will hit theaters later this year on December 21.