Paul Dano is set to play the Riddler in 'The Batman'.
Paul Dano
The 35-year-old actor will take on the role of the nefarious supervillain Edward Nashton and his alter-ego the Riddler in the upcoming Batman movie, an individual with knowledge of the project reported to TheWrap.
'The Batman' is being directed by Matt Reeves, and will star Robert Pattinson as the titular caped crusader himself, who is also known as Bruce Wayne.
The Riddler - who is also known as Edward Nigma in the original DC Comics - is a criminal mastermind in Gotham City who incorporates riddles and puzzles into his schemes, leaving them as clues for the authorities to solve.
In live-action, the character was last played by Jim Carrey in 1995's 'Batman Forever', and was also played by Frank Gorshin in the 1960s 'Batman' television series.
Paul's casting comes as Jonah Hill was originally in talks to play the villain in the movie, with discussions centred around either the Riddler or Penguin.
It was reported this week that talks with Jonah had broken down.
This comes just days after it was revealed Zoe Kravitz has signed up to pay Catwoman in the movie, which is due to drop in June 2021.
Kravitz looks set to follow in the paw steps of Anne Hathaway, Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry by taking on the iconic role in the Matt Reeves movie.
Reeves is expected to include numerous villains in the motion picture, and is said to be planning a trilogy.
The Joker, Two-Face and Hugo Strange are all expected to be characters in the film.
However, Batman's arch-nemesis Joker will not be played by Joaquin Phoenix, who plays the character in the current origin movie of the same name.
'Joker' director Todd Phillips recently ruled out the possibility of Phoenix's Joker crossing paths with Pattinson's Batman.
He said: "Definitely not. Oddly, in the States, comic books are our Shakespeare it seems, and you can do many, many versions of 'Hamlet'.
"There'll be many more Jokers, I'm sure in the future."
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