Justin Timberlake Wants to Play the Riddler From ‘Batman’
Justin Timberlake gets enough adulation as a superstar that he’s ready to play a villain: the singer wants to show his maniacal side as the Riddler from the Batman franchise, Variety reports.
Timberlake said in a recent interview on New York radio station Fresh 102.7 that he would rather play a bad guy than take on a role like Batman’s sidekick Robin. “Now, a villain! I’ll tell you the villain I want to play more than anything – because I grew up loving Batman – funnily enough, is the Riddler,” Timberlake said. “The Riddler is my favorite villain. The Riddler was like a sociopath. He was proper crazy. So if I’m gonna play crazy, I wanna play proper crazy.”
Jim Carrey was the last actor to portray the Riddler in 1995’s Batman Forever, which starred Val Kilmer as Batman. Timberlake has yet to appear in a superhero movie, though he’s piling up film credits. The singer has appeared in films including Alpha Dog, The Social Network and Friends With Benefits.
Timberlake’s fall is shaping up to be a busy one. Along with the release of part two of The 20/20 Experience on September 27th, he can be seen starring opposite Ben Affleck in Runner, Runner on October 4th and in the new Coen brothers’ film Inside Llewyn Davis on December 6th.
Timberlake also expressed confidence that Affleck is equal to the challenge of playing Batman in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel. “I think he’s an extreme talent, so he could surprise a lot of people,” Timberlake said.