Dylan O’Brien wasn’t okay with the Nightwing casting rumors

Casting rumors have been known to catch fire and take on a life of their own on social media, and actor Dylan O’Brien has found himself at the center of those rumors. The actor was the subject of constant rumors that he was a candidate for the role of DC’s Nightwing earlier in his career. The rumors again hit a fever pitch earlier this year, leading the actor to reaffirm his stance on the superhero genre. He gets the appeal of the films, but he would rather maintain a smaller profile and pursue projects he’s more passionate about. As he’s promoting his latest film, Not Okay, which explores how crazy social media can be when facts go unchecked, O’Brien indicates that he wasn’t okay with the Nightwing rumors spreading without any credible sources to back them up.

During an interview with Screen Rant, O’Brien detailed why the Nightwing rumors bothered him, which connects to his new film, Not Okay. The film is written and directed by Quinn Shepard, and the dark comedy follows a photo editor played by Zoey Deutch, that makes up a big lie on social media that begins to spiral out of control. O’Brien takes on the supporting role of Colin in the film, and it becomes pretty clear why the premise appealed to the actor. He’s no stranger to online speculation getting out of hand, and that’s precisely what happened with the Nightwing rumors:

“No, no, never, never [any truth to the Nightwing rumors]. I’m glad that time has passed and people can see that I was telling the truth. There was so much doubt and speculation and theories and all just from, I don’t even know who originally put… I think that they just post s—t. They have no source. It doesn’t come from anything. It’s crazy actually to see it catch fire. That’s not really fair, is it? It is [like the message of Not Okay]. Yeah. I mean, it was like an account that has a following. It’s somewhat of a credible source and they’re just making s—t up. That’s interesting, isn’t it?”

It’s clear that fans sparked these casting rumors because the actor has been pretty vocal, at least since 2014 in several interviews, that the superhero genre isn’t for him. It’s not a career trajectory he wants for himself, and that’s something to be respected. It would be easy for someone like him to go down that route, mainly because he has built-in popularity due to his time on Teen Wolf and with The Maze Runner franchise. He’d rather take on passion projects than chase box office success, but that doesn’t stop these rumors. It wasn’t that long ago he was linked to another superhero role. When Ezra Miller began going off the rails, a rumor circulated on Twitter that Dylan O’Brien was in line to replace Miller as The Flash following the film’s release next year. There was no truth to the rumor, but it spread pretty quickly. Such is the case when rumors get out there and go unchecked.

Do YOU think Dylan O’Brien would be good in the superhero genre?