Jonah Hill LEAVES The Batman, Seth Rogen Almost Played Penguin!

And to think we were just one Mintz-Plasse away from the Superbad reunion we all deserve...

The Riddler Jonah Hill Seth Rogen
Warner Bros./Sony

Sadly, a little over a month since it was first reported that Jonah Hill was in talks for a role in Matt Reeves' The Batman, it has now emerged the actor has left the project - for now at least.

As per Variety, news first broke of Hill's involvement with The Batman during an early stage in talks between the actor's camp and Warner Bros., when a deal was far from complete. It's currently unknown as to why Hill backed out in the end, but The Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit implied that it may have something to do with payment, reiterating WB's determination not to see a repeat of Batman '89, where star Jack Nicholson walked away with a hefty paycheque.

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Far more interesting, though, are Kit's comments regarding another of the film's yet to be cast roles - The Penguin.

Initial reports had claimed that Hill was in talks for either the part of Penguin or Riddler, but once both parties had settled on the latter option, it appears as though WB made moves to cast Seth Rogen as Oswald Cobblepot.

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It looks as though both actors won't be involved in The Batman now, however - no matter how much we all desperately need to hear Rogen's trademark laugh in a comic book movie at some point further down the line.

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Are you disappointed Hill won't get to play Riddler? Would Seth Rogen have been a good Penguin? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Batman Quiz: Can You Name That Gadget?

Original Batman
DC Comics

1. What Gadget/Weapon Was Used In Batman's Early Days And Nowhere Else?

Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.