Armie Hammer refutes 'Batman' rumours: 'No one has checked my availability' (exclusive)

In an alternate timeline, DC fans would have seen Armie Hammer playing Batman in George Miller’s Justice League: Mortal but, alas, that never came to fruition.

However, the rumour mill has gone into overdrive ever since Ben Affleck confirmed he wouldn’t be returning as Bruce Wayne, freeing up the role for another actor to take his place in DC’s upcoming solo film The Batman.

Hammer’s name is among those that have been linked to the film, to be written and directed by War For The Planet of the Apes’ Matt Reeves, but he confirmed to Yahoo Movies UK that he had not been approached for the job.

“No one who can actually give me the job has asked me if I’m interested,” Hammer said. “I don’t even know if they are done – they are still working on a script.

“I don’t think that they are close to production but I can conclusively tell you that no one has checked my availability, which is a bummer.”

The 32-year-old actor currently has three films on his upcoming slate: Opioids drama Dreamland, Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile, and Ben Wheatley’s remake of Rebecca.

Hammer can next be seen on UK screens in On the Basis of Sex as Marty Ginsburg, the husband of iconic Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, played by Felicity Jones.

The film chronicles RBG’s early legal career and the struggles she faced as a woman battling against gender discrimination, with her supportive tax lawyer husband by her side.

Read more: Matt Reeves teases ‘very emotional’ The Batman

“I liked the idea of playing this guy who was so self-assured and non-threatened that he was willing to defy the gender norms at the time, Hammer said. “You know in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, where this movie really takes place, men didn’t stay home and do the cooking and take care of the kids it just wasn’t done.

“So imagine you’re Marty Ginsberg, you’re in the kitchen, you’ve got your apron on and you’re cooking and one of your friends comes over and walks in and goes, ‘well how the hell are you, are you wearing an apron are you cooking? What the hell is going on?'” the actor continued. “This is a guy who was so confident in himself and so secure that he just went, ‘yeah, I’m cooking and guess what, it’s f**king delicious would you like some?’ I liked that self-possession that he had.”

Marty could easily be described as a feminist for his support of his wife’s ambitions and career but Hammer doesn’t readily use that label for himself. “I’m not sure that I can actually be a feminist, I’m not sure how that works for guys but I know that I would like to consider myself a feminist ally,” he explained.

The conversation around gender politics has certainly had a resurgence in recent years while the political landscape in the UK and the US has seen significant unrest. Hammer certainly hasn’t had a problem with speaking out on political issues in the past, but he thinks that despite the “tumultuous” climate of the last decade it might just be the “shake-up we need.”

“There seems to be a lot of uncomfortable change going on and hopefully that transitions into growing pains and it happens for the better, but I don’t know, it depends on where you look,” he mused. “Right now we’re in the UK, you guys have a lot of changes going on. We’ve got a tumultuous situation going on in the States right now.

“If you look at it in the microcosm it seems like, depending on if you’re a pessimist or an optimist, you can look at it two different ways but if you look at the macrocosm maybe this is just a shake-up that we need.”

On the Basis of Sex is in U.K. cinemas from 22 February. Watch a trailer below.

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