John Turturro workshops a Stephen Colbert-starring Double Indemnity remake

In the run-up to the March 4 release of the latest reboot/re-imagining/re-jiggering of the Batman franchise (with the ‘The” in The Batman attempting to establish some unique authority), the film’s costars continue to parcel out enough clips to give us some idea of the vibe of Matt Reeve’s take on the Caped Crusader. (No spoilers, but think “dark,” “gritty,” and “not your daddy’s Batman.”) Thankfully though, the endless recycling of Bruce Wayne’s quest to work through childhood trauma with batarangs and punching continues to ensure employment for some of our finest and most employable character actors, as, on Tuesday’s Late Show, John Turturro brought along an extended clip of his role as Gotham City’s most infamous crime boss (non-costumed category), gangster Carmine Falcone.

Fans of Frank Miller’s comics interpretation of Batman’s early years know that the dapper but evil Falcone was one of the neophyte Bat’s earliest nemeses (and no, that Kevin Smith, peeing-himself Batman never happened), and Turturro told Stephen Colbert how fun it is to stretch his bad guy muscles onscreen once again. Appearing almost two years to the day since his last appearance live in the Ed Sullivan Theater in the before-times, the 64-year-old Turturro told Colbert of the joys of playing “irresponsible,” as his Falcone brazenly taunts Robert Pattinson’s now-grown Bruce Wayne about the Wayne and Falcone family’s shared past. And if Turturro’s idea of “irresponsible” (not doing the dishes) is perhaps a little more mundane than Falcone’s (ensnaring unsuspecting Gothamites into a web of murderous obligation), Turturro still makes it pretty menacing.

Telling Colbert how he drew on his builder father’s experiences working on the homes of various New York-area mob types for his role, Turturro also revealed that his Batman knowledge goes deep. Expressing admiration for both Miller’s more film noir take on the character and Adam West’s, let’s say, more colorful interpretation, Turturro also schooled Colbert on the clear Zorro-derived elements of the Bat. (Cape, mask, loyal and enabling butler, pretending to be a rich layabout while secretly stalking the streets as a flamboyant costumed vigilante, etc.) And if, in the clip, his Falcone isn’t sporting clown makeup or some sort of unwieldy Zodiac-inspired boiler suit, it’s John Turturro, and therefore damned formidable.

Putting on his filmmaker’s hat as their talk went on, Turturro gradually hit upon the idea of a film noir starring none other than Stephen Colbert, possibly in the Ed McMurray Double Indemnity role of charismatic, dame-suckered heel-hero Walter Neff. Turturro, clearly warming to the idea of Colbert playing a seemingly nice guy with a trail of dead bodies in his wake, immediately cast himself and Late Show bandleader Jon Batiste as a pair of dogged cops trying to bring the nefarious Colbert down, with Colbert glorying in Turturro’s assertion that Colbert is actor enough to carry off the part. (They didn’t get into who’d play the Barbara Stanwyck femme fatale role, but if they don’t cast Colbert’s Strangers With Candy pal Amy Sedaris as the scheming and seductive Phyllis Dietrichson, they’re just leaving money on the table.)

Turturro, also putting together funding for a swashbuckling Batiste-starring superhero movie in his head, assured Colbert that he’d also find a villainous Batman role for the host, if it were up to him. “You direct,” exclaimed Colbert, urging his guest to put his money where his mouth is. And even if Turturro’s directing career hews more toward actorly indie fare and the occasional bananas spinoff sequel, well, a Colbert-starring superhero flick couldn’t be any worse than Justice League.