First he battled Ra’s Al Ghul and The Scarecrow, and then we saw him heading off to take down The Joker. Now, what kind of Gamble is coming the way of Batman?
MTV News has learned that rapper/actor David Banner auditioned this week for a role in “The Dark Knight,” the super-secretive sequel to 2005’s “Batman Begins.” According to the beefy “Black Snake Moan” supporting actor, he would play a villain named “Gamble,” another criminal to help fill out the rogue ranks alongside Heath Ledger’s Joker.
Banner, a long-time comic book fan who named himself after the main character in the TV version of “The Incredible Hulk,” could barely contain his excitement when we caught up with him in South Central Los Angeles on Wednesday. The star was in town to film a cameo for the music video to “International Players Anthem,” a track by UGK featuring OutKast.
After several years of making his Hollywood aspirations known, the role of Gamble could mark a big step in Banner’s career in front of the camera. The Southern-born “Play” star told us that he was so excited to read for the filmmakers, in fact, that he even shaved off his trademark beard to look more appropriate for the part.
While the news that he’s being considered is a big one for Banner himself, the larger story must be the presence of this mysterious “Gamble” character. Various searches on the Internet, as well as a call to the beloved fellow geeks at L.A.’s Golden Apple Comics, yielded little more than the consensus that this Batman baddie has never appeared in a Dark Knight comic before.
Although eager, a hesitant Banner stressed that he couldn’t divulge anything more about the character, and that he didn’t know if he had landed the part just yet. But either way, David Banner seems one step closer to joining Ledger, Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart and the other illustrated men of Gotham City.
Directed by Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight” is currently filming, and is targeting a July 2008 release.
UPDATE: Click here to watch the exclusive video interview with Banner
May 17th, 2007 at 1:48 am
One thinks it is great that rapper/actor David Banner wants to play Gamble in The Dark Knight assisting Heath Ledger as The Joker. Good luck to you David I hope you get the part and if you do I will see you in the film.
May 17th, 2007 at 9:18 am
I just hope that this isn’t true. Please, we don’t need anymore villains! Especially these new villains we’ve never heard or seen before, when there are currently several in Batman’s rogue gallery to choose from who have more history.
Didn’t they learn anything from Spider-Man 3. Too much is just too much. Hopefully Nolan doesn’t get taken over by the Hollywood system.
May 17th, 2007 at 11:38 am
who is gamble an why is he in with the joker this batman movie sounds like a bunch of junk made up this gamble charater most of all sounds dumb if this batman movie has got to be good if not guanoboy can stay in his cave if this movie falls on its face .
May 17th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
As much as I love Sam Raimi, Nolan is a much better writer and story teller, and has already proven to have a great talent for interconnecting subplots and handling many characters without getting too much or little screen time.
SM3 suffered because 1) Raimi isn’t that good of a writer. 2) His heart wasn’t in it, like it was in the others. 3) He was forced to use Venom, despite the fact he hated the character. This wont happen with The Dark Knight, because like I said, we have Christopher Nolan.
And what’s all of this against lost of villains. Batman Begins had more villains than SM3, and that movie was fantastic!
In short: I believe in Chris Nolan
May 18th, 2007 at 4:40 am
It’s interesting this new villain. And what about two faces?
May 18th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
RApers A la mierda, anda canta raegueton, no jodas la pelicula.
May 19th, 2007 at 5:29 am
DONT USE SPIDERMAN 3 AS AN EXAMPLE BATMAN IS BATMAN AND I THINK NOLAN KNOWS WHAT HES DOING IN BATMAN BEGINS THE VILLANS WERE LINKED BUT SPACED APART AND IN THE DARK KNIGHT I BET BATMAN WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE MINOR VILLANS TO GET TO THE JOKER THE SAME WAY THEY TOLD BATMAN BEGINS BUT IN THE SAME SENCE NOLAN WILL PROBABLY PUT A TWIST ON THIS. IN THE COMICS THE JOKER SOMETIMES USES OTHER VILLANS TO GET HIS MAIN OBJECTIVE DONE.
May 19th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
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May 28th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
I dont think that this will be a major part. Look at the “thugs” that were used in Begins. Even when everyone thought that Zsaz was going to be a major player, he wasnt. There shouldnt be any problem with including minor “villains” or “thigs” as background characters.
June 4th, 2007 at 3:31 am
heath ledger your joking
i heard pirates 4 butt pirates and the flat chest that coudlnt turn them starring that brit with ?$%
June 4th, 2007 at 3:40 am
i heard he couldnt play the joker herpes is what he got when he shoved his gun up someones ass
guess he got bat guano on it..guess when you dance with the devil in the pale moonlight you get red blisters and pale puss..guess brokeback wasnt acting
its sad he atleast could act that querr gylennhaal
never could he uses females as beards to get his acting jobs while his sister just gives blowjobs to get them
June 10th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
lets give it a chance before we blow it up. lets look at a new storie line with this Gamble villian we already know the jokers story we already know the riddler,two face,clay face and etc….. lets do the unexpected
June 10th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
heath ledger cant be any worse than dude who played as ghost ryder
June 14th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
They are taping the Dark Knight on Broadway one block north of Irving Park in Chi-town.
Go see the actors and actress…great setup and talk about stunts to be filmed at night after 11 on Broadway.
June 24th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Dosent matter to me i just want to see the movie
January 19th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
This movie is going to rock. I posted some updated posters and trailers. The posters alone make me want to see it, and finally, it’s got that deep and dark look and feel to it that they should have had years ago. No more Broadway stage act type of Batman.