Instagram Detectives, start the engines of your Batmobiles, because some of Glen Powell’s follows on the social media platform have led fans to believe he might play Batman in the upcoming Brave and the Bold. And here’s the thing that takes this from “random Instagram nonsense”: Powell has already expressed some interest in the role.
The extremely rumory post comes from X (formerly Twitter) where it was pointed out that Powell “has started following” James Gunn, Rachel Brosnahan, David Corenswet, and Andy Muschetti. Others online point out that he’s also following Isabela Merced, among the 2,245 accounts Powell follows on Instagram.
To break this down further: James Gunn is the architect of the DCU, and writing and directing Superman. In the 2025 premiering film, Corenswet plays Superman, Brosnahan Lois Lane, and Merced is Hawkgirl. Meanwhile, Muschetti is writing and directing The Brave and the Bold, a movie that will pair Batman with his annoying son Damian. That movie, for clarity’s sake, is still in development.
While Powell could follow all of those folks if he was joining the DCU (as Batman or otherwise) the reason these sorts of Instagram follow stories are so hard to parse is that there can be a variety of reasons why someone can follow someone else, and the platform doesn’t notate when they followed. Corenswet, for example, stars in Twisters with Powell. It’s reasonable to think that follow isn’t a new thing at all, regardless of what someone on X says.
However, the thing that does make this suspicious is that Powell has already expressed interest in both James Gunn, and Batman. During an interview with GQ UK, Powell was touring the WB lot when he spotted the Superman insignia on a door and stopped by to check if it was indeed Gunn’s office. The creator wasn’t home, but the profile immediately follows up with Powell looking around a hall filled with Batmobiles. Here’s the relevant section of the profile:
“I was always a Batman guy,” Powell tells me later, as we walk through a hall lined with Batmobiles. Powell has no interest in playing a superhero, but flirts with the idea of Bruce Wayne (who anyway, is just a man). “I would have a wild take on Batman. It definitely would not be like a Matt Reeves tone – it’d probably be closer to Keaton. Oh, sick!” He has found Keaton’s Batmobile. “See? This is the era.”
So yeah. Dude likes Batman, and has a take that may align with the new DCU. He seems excited to meet James Gunn. And he follows several important stakeholders on Instagram.
The Dark Knight himself would probably need a lot more evidence to make a conclusive case here, though. And throwing further cold water on this, Gunn recently noted on Threads that no DCU project is cast until it’s greenlit, most likely in reference to the rumor that Kumail Nanjiani had been cast as Booster Gold. Similarly, with The Brave and the Bold still in development, it seems early to cast Batman until he’s supposed to appear in a movie.
So is Powell Batman? Is he playing another role in a project — Hal Jordan in Lanterns, perhaps? Or maybe he just follows some cool people on Instagram. We’ll have to wait to find out.
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