James Gunn Shuts Down Brave and the Bold Damian Wayne Casting 'Leak'

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Details remain scarce about The Brave and the Bold, but one fan has already "revealed" the actor cast to play Bruce Wayne's son, Damian Wayne. The supposed "leak" is an obvious joke that caught James Gunn's attention.

Gunn neither confirmed nor denied whether Michael Rooker has been cast as Damian Wayne in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. "Who leaked this? Someone is getting fired," Gunn wrote in response to a DCU fan's "scoop" on Threads. One comment suggested the actor should play Jim Gordon instead. Rooker recently played a DCU original character, Red St. Wild, in Peacemaker.

Rooker and Gunn's ongoing trend of collaborating together started in the latter's 2006 directorial debut, Slither. The veteran actor has since appeared in every James Gunn film. Rooker's role in Peacemaker was a favor to Gunn, who cautioned the character would "probably die" before Season 2 ends. "We will not consider this as meaning that you can't play another role in the DCU," Gunn told Rooker on Peacemaker: The Official Podcast. "This is how we tell you Rooker will be playing The Flash," he added in jest.

James Gunn Hints at Damian Wayne's Role in Upcoming Batman Film

Dick Grayson as Batman and Damian Wayne as Robin debut in Batman and Robin #1

The Brave and the Bold is seemingly still far off on the DCU slate; Gunn confirmed they're still working on the script. He also set fan expectations on Damian Wayne a.k.a. Robin's involvement in the film. "I think you have to wait to see the movie. Some things have changed," he told IGN. "Plenty of things are in flux on what his situation is with his parentage and all that stuff, so I wouldn't take any of it – Yeah, I mean, the actor who wants to... Listen, first of all, I can't tell you the amount of big actors that have told me they want to be Batman."

The statement fuels speculation over Damian's origin in DCU canon. He's Bruce and Talia Al Ghul's biological son in the comics, but Gunn could alter that to explain why Bruce has a child in his 30s. The Brave and the Bold is also expected to introduce more members of the Bat-Family. Gunn has already teased plans to bring in Catwoman, and Alfred Pennyworth's DCU is already a given.

"Batman's my biggest issue in all of DC right now, personally," Gunn told Rolling Stone. "And it's not — I'm not writing Batman, but I am working with the writer of Batman and trying to get it right, because he's incredibly important to DC, as is Wonder Woman. So outside of the stuff that I'm doing in the projects that are actively going, our two priorities are finishing our Wonder Woman and our Batman scripts."

Batman: The Brave and the Bold is still in development and has no release date at this time.