More than familiar with the superhero genre, Sebastian Stan is putting his hat in the ring to play an iconic Batman villain in the DC Universe. Set to star in Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* as Bucky Barnes, Stan is consistently positioning himself in the MCU franchise while pushing himself as an actor in subversive, sometimes controversial roles. His interest in comic book films have not waned, and that includes playing a straight-up villain that just appeared in Matt Reeves’ The Batman — the Riddler.

During an interview with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Stan was naturally asked about his possible interest in playing a superhero not within the MCU. This seems to be a question that plagues every movie star nowadays, even if they already form part of a comic book movie franchise. Still, Stan’s answer may surprise some fans, and could actually be a real possibility. Although the actor is quite coy about his answer initially, he reveals that the Riddler is his preferred DC character if he were to ever move to the other side of the superhero pond.

“I… I mean… Never say never. I… I don’t know… there’s so many… yeah, there’s so many characters… I.. I, uh… I told you I always had a soft spot for that Riddler, right… But… But, um… that one’s that one’s been done, so…”

Of course, the Riddler was the most recent Batman villain to grace the big screen, having been played by the brilliant Paul Dano in Matt Reeves’ crime epic. However, that doesn’t mean Stan still can’t portray the iconic character at some point, sooner rather than later. If Bane and Deathstroke can get their own movie in James Gunn’s DCU, then we can’t rule out another recent Batman villain appearing in the rebooted cinematic universe. Moreover, if the controversial Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice has proved anything, it’s that Stan is more than ready to play a villain.

Sebastian Stan Has Been Snubbed for Several Major Roles

On the same podcast, Sebastian Stan also revealed that he’s been in contention for several major franchise roles over the years. From Star Trek to the now-infamous Green Lantern film, the Marvel actor says that he nearly beat out other A-listers for the parts that would eventually go to Chris Pine and Ryan Reynolds, respectively. Obviously, his resume at the time was not where it is today, nor did he have Winter Solider under his belt yet. Still, that didn’t stop him from passionately pursuing the roles.

“There were a couple of things I didn’t get that I really desperately wanted. But Captain Kirk for J.J. Abrams; that was one of the first I got very close to. I remember I was really, really close, and I remember I had a screen test with [Abrams] at Paramount, and my manager had me do a separate photo shoot where I would try and replicate all these William Shatner pictures just to send to him, see how much I looked like him, but I didn’t get it.”

Green Lantern
was another that I screen tested for. I remember getting there, and it was like me, Justin Timberlake, Jared Leto, Ryan Reynolds and maybe one other person, and I’m looking at these guys going, ‘I’m f—ed! There’s no way this is happening!’”

Related Sebastian Stan Offers Up a Simple Challenge to MCU Haters Sebastian Stan thinks franchise detractors should try and do better if they think they can.

As the saying goes, everything happens for a reason. Stan is now one of the most versatile actors working today, especially when it comes to playing unlikeable yet irresistible characters. He’s been gaining mass praise for his nuanced, scary-accurate performance as the convicted former President Donald Trump in The Apprentice. In the horror film Fresh, he weaponizes his built-up audience trust and natural charm for a role truly unlike anything he’s done before. Perhaps playing a straight-and-narrow hero in both Star Trek and Green Lantern was simply never the right path for the acclaimed actor.