The Batman‘s lineup of heroes and allies is filling out. Just a few weeks after Zoe Kravitz landed the role of Catwoman and Paul Dano agreed to slip on Riddler’s tights, news comes that Matthew Reeves’ The Batman might enlist Colin Farrell and Andy Serkis to play The Penguin and Batman’s trusty butler, Alfred, respectively.
Neither deal has been finalized, according to The Wrap and Deadline, which broke the stories, although negotiations are believed to be in their final stages. If the deals pan out, Serkis and Farrell will join Twilight and The Lighthouse star Robert Pattinson, who’ll be appearing as the Caped Crusader himself in the film.
Previously, actor Jonah Hill was said to be in talks to play Penguin or Riddler, but those negotiations ultimately fell through. If Farrell takes over as Penguin, then Reeves is clearly taking the character in a very different direction than originally planned. Meanwhile, Serkis is mainly associated with Marvel projects: he recently appeared as a villain in Black Panther and will step behind the camera to direct Venom 2 for Sony, which is currently building out its own Spider-Man-focused cinematic universe.
As die-hard fans might remember, Farrell actually has a supervillain past, too. In 2003, Farrell played Bullseye in Fox’s pre-MCU Daredevil, in which he starred opposite future and former Batman Ben Affleck.
Batman was last seen in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, following an earlier appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and a brief cameo in Suicide Squad. While Affleck, who played Bruce Wayne in those movies, was originally set to star in and direct The Batman, he decided not to return after he had trouble cracking the script.
The Batman will not be an origin story, although it’s also not expected to have any ties to Warner Bros.’ struggling DC Extended Universe, which will include upcoming features Wonder Woman 1984, The Suicide Squad, and Birds of Prey. DReeves describes The Batman as a grounded, “noir-driven” take on the superhero that will play up Bruce Wayne’s detective skills, although he’ll clearly also have plenty of villains to fight. The Batman will hit theaters on June 25, 2021.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.