The Batman Wants Josh Gad as the Penguin?

It looks like Warner Bros.' DC Extended Universe may have just found a new villain. Josh Gad recently posted a photo of the famousBatmanvillain The Penguin on social media, which has led to speculation that he could be playing the character in an upcoming DCEU movie, possiblyThe Batman. This could be nothing, but at the same time, why on Earth wouldJosh Gadpost something like this out of the blue for no good reason?

The photo was posted by Josh Gad onTwitterand features a comic book image of Penguin with a bird in one hand, his signature umbrella in the other and muttering the phrase, “Make me!” Since Josh Gad seems to have the build to playPenguin, it is reasonable to speculate he is hinting at his inclusion inThe Batman, or another upcoming DCEU project. The “make me” bit could be him sort of putting this out to the universe and saying to the powers that be that they should make him Penguin, but that is purely speculative.

The Batmanhad a really rocky few months of development, with a lot of reported script problems, andBen Affleck leaving the director’s chairbehind, which led many to speculate the project was in serious trouble. All appears to be well now, though, as director Matt Reeves has stepped in and, as soon as he is done with his commitments onWar for the Planet of the Apes, he will hit the ground running withThe Batman. In the version of the script that Ben Affleck was going to direct, the main villain was going to be Deathstroke, with Joe Manganiello set to play theDC Comics mercenary. It was also rumored that the movie would feature quite a few Batman villains, so Penguin could definitely factor into those plans. It all depends on what Matt Reeves wants to do with it, now that the project is his.

Penguin is historically aBatman villainand has been played on screen several times. Perhaps most notably by Danny De Vito inBatman Returns. He has also been featured on Fox’s seriesGothammore recently. That said, there is no reason Penguin couldn’t show up in another DCEU project, likeGotham City SirensorSuicide Squad 2. If he does show up, it definitely looks like Josh Gad could be the next actor to play him on the big screen.

The Batmandoes not currently have a release date, but the movie is expected to shoot early next year, which would likely have it coming out in 2019.Gotham City SirensandSuicide Squad 2, both projects which seem like possible fits for Penguin within the DCEU, also don’t have release dates set. You can check out Josh Gad’s tweet for yourself below and feel free to speculate away until some official word comes from either Josh Gad or someone involved in one of the projects he could show up in.