Ben Affleck as Batman? Sure. James Spader as Ultron? Go for it. Justin Timberlake as a villain? Why the f*ck not.
Counter-casting seems to be the big thing these days and we will have no idea if it will pan out until the finished product hits the silver screen. We can remember back when no one thought Hugh Jackman could be Wolverine or Heath Ledger could be the Joker. Both have turned out alright. So, when singer/actor Justin Timberlake says he could envision playing a specific character from the comic page, people are not going to instantly discount the notion.
Timberlake is starring with Batman himself, Ben Affleck, in the upcoming RUNNER RUNNER, so the two already have experience playing off of each other. But, if Timberlake has his way, they would flip their good guy versus bad guy roles. Here is what he told Digital Spy:
“I have no aspiration to ever be a superhero in a movie … Now, a villain! I’ll tell you the villain I want to play more than anything because I grew up loving Batman, funnily enough, is The Riddler. The Riddler is my favorite villain. The Riddler was like a sociopath. He was proper crazy. So if I’m gonna play crazy, I’m wanna play proper crazy.”
Justin Timberlake has certainly shown himself to be a decent actor in THE SOCIAL NETWORK and IN TIME, but he doesn’t strike me as being strong enough to play someone like The Riddler. While Jim Carrey‘s portrayal was way over the top, I would love to see a take on the character that is more malicious, snarky, and evil. Maybe Timberlake could prove us all wrong.