Colin Farrell Will Star In One Of James Gunn’s DC Universe Movies (But Not As The Penguin)

If at first you don’t succeed with one name-brand actor, well, just try again with another. For some reason, DC has been trying to make comic book character Sgt. Rock happen for quite some time now. Early reports date back to the early 2000s, first with Arnold Schwarzenegger attached for the role of the gruff title character before director Guy Ritchie began circling the project in 2008. The WWII soldier ended up on the backburner when those plans fell apart over the years, only to get resurrected in the most bizarre (but strangely compelling) way imaginable. When last we heard, none other than “Queer” filmmaker Luca Guadagnino and actor Daniel Craig were set to reunite on — and lend their combined star power to — a “Sgt. Rock” film under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios. If that seemed too good to be true, well, that’s exactly what it turned out to be when Craig was subsequently reported to have dropped out of the role (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Now, however, there’s a whole new twist to this saga. THR has since discovered that Colin Farrell, a veteran of both Marvel (2003’s “Daredevil”) and DC (most recently HBO’s “The Penguin”), is currently “in talks” to become the main lead of “Sgt. Rock.” Should he sign on the dotted line, this would immediately put the production on a fast track to begin filming later this summer in England, according to the article. Set in World War II, the film would apparently adapt the exploits of Easy Company and its leader, Sgt. Rock, as the unit takes the fight to Nazis invading Europe during the height of the conflict. The fact that Guadagnino remains set to direct this feature (with a script from “Challengers” and “Queer” writer Justin Kuritzkes) is almost even more unbelievable than Farrell’s potential casting, the latter of whom would seem to be a perfect match for such a tough-as-nails character.

Read on for more details below!

Daniel Craig’s loss could very well turn out to be Colin Farrell’s gain, as DC Studios’ “Sgt. Rock” film is swapping one major source of star power for another. (Don’t weep for Craig, folks; he’s reportedly circling a role in Greta Gerwig’s “Chronicles of Narnia” film.) Farrell is coming off serious awards acclaim for portraying the prosthetic-laden gangster Oz Cobb in “The Penguin,” the HBO spinoff series expanding on his scene-stealing performance in Matt Reeves’ “The Batman.” Jumping straight into another comic book role (and once again for DC Studios, no less) certainly speaks volumes of the script that Luca Guadagnino and writer Justin Kuritzkes have on their hands … though it also can’t help but raise other questions as well.

Namely, how does this “Sgt. Rock” news affect the long-delayed sequel “The Batman: Part II”? If Farrell is going to be busy shooting Nazis in the face in the main DC Universe, when would he have the time to return to the dregs of Gotham City in Reeves’ highly-anticipated follow up off in this standalone Batman franchise? If we take James Gunn and Peter Safran at their word, Reeves is making progress on the script for “The Batman: Part II” and they should be expecting a draft imminently. Once that happens, it’s reasonable to expect that production could then grind into motion towards the end of this year or the beginning of the next, with an eye on a theatrical release sometime in 2027. That will be cold comfort to fans who’ve been waiting since 2022 for the sequel to “The Batman,” but there is a potential way for both that and “Sgt. Rock” to work under Farrell’s increasingly busy schedule.

Stay tuned to /Film for more updates on “Sgt. Rock” as they come in.