Richard Armitage Was Up For the Role of Batman Before Ben Affleck Was Cast

The Hobbit star Richard Armitage recently confirmed that he was up for the role of Batman in Zack Snyder's films before Ben Affleck agreed to play the character. Apparently, the actor got pretty close to actually landing the role. During an interview with Digital Spy the actor said:

"There was a little flurry once upon a time just after I'd come out of The Hobbit where I auditioned for Batman. It was at the same time that Christian Bale was leaving, there were about five or six actors that were in line for that character, so I went through quite a process with that."

Even though Armitage didn't get the opportunity to play the caped crusader, he's still fascinated with the character, saying:

"The sort of darker side of a man, and the desire to right some wrongs... I think it's really interesting, that character Bruce Wayne."

It would have certainly been interesting to see Armitage in the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. I think he's a solid actor and I thought he was great in The Hobbit films. Maybe Armitage could have pulled it off, but we'll never know.

Ben Affleck ended up landing the role and I personally liked Affleck in the role of Batman. I thought he was a good choice to play the character. I know not everyone will agree with me on that, but it doesn't sound like he'll be playing the character much longer anyway.

Most recently, Armitage provided the voice of Wolverine in Marvel's podcast series Wolverine: The Long Night. With Hugh Jackman having retired from the role in Logan, Armitage admits that he'd be interested in taking on the role if given the opportunity:

"It would be a tall order, wouldn't it, to follow Hugh Jackman's performance? We look a little bit alike, which I think would be a bit weird. But of course, it would be amazing. It's a great character, a really great character."

Do you think Armitage would have made a good Batman? Do you think he could pull off the role of Wolverine if the opportunity presented himself?