With the next quarter-century or so of Marvel and DC movies providing countless casting opportunities for men and maybe one or two women, we are truly in a golden age of speculation. Those who thrill to seeing their favorite stars appearing in stories suggesting that they may be superheroes certainly will not want for temporary and often pointless excitement, evidenced by the ongoing rumors regarding who will play Marvel’s Doctor Strange—rumors that now include Ryan Gosling.
As Gosling is a male actor with four working limbs and a face, The Hollywood Reporter now says he’s in the running to play the supernatural surgeon, joining a list of actors who definitely exist like Jared Leto, Justin Theroux, Matthew McConaughey, Oscar Isaac, Ewan McGregor, Ethan Hawke, Keanu Reeves, and Jake Gyllenhaal. Like the rest of these contenders, Gosling has somehow not yet appeared as a superhero, something the comic-book movie demands of the next few years will soon correct.
That’s because Gosling’s opportunities for comic-book movie employment are as robust as any: THR also reports that he’s being courted for DC’s Suicide Squad, the David Ayer-directed supervillain team-up Warner Bros. officially announced yesterday. Gosling’s name is mentioned alongside others like Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and even Tom Hardy—whose performance as Bane doesn’t preclude him from starring in another DC Comics film, any more than working as a teacher doesn’t preclude you from taking a night shift at Domino’s. These are simply the economic realities of today’s superhero movie job market. (And as always, nothing about any of this may pan out, but we’re here discussing it anyway. These are the economic realities of today’s writing about superhero movies job market.)
Gosling is also said to be in talks to play Harry Houdini, who is not a superhero, so who gives a shit.