Matt Reeves' The Batman just gained a new cast member: character actor John Turturro has signed on to play crime boss Carmine Falcone, aka "The Roman," in the movie. The director made the announcement on Twitter, using a GIf of Turturro's character Jesus Quintana in The Big Lebowski to drive the point home.
Turturro might not be a household name, but there's a good chance you've seen him in, well, everything. His screen credits include the Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Summer of Sam, Anger Management, The Taking of Pelham 123, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Ridiculous 6, The Good Shepherd, Flight of the Conchords and The Night Of.
The Roman is just the latest in a growing rogue's gallery of super-villains who will be played by impressive actors in The Batman. First there was the news that Zoë Kravitz will play infamous antiheroine Catwoman, then Paul Dano was cast as The Riddler. Then came the surprising announcement that Colin Farrell will play The Penguin.
In the comics, Carmine Falcone is a powerful mafioso not dissimilar to The Kingpin from Marvel Comics. His character is inspired by Marlon Brando's performance as Don Corleone in The Godfather, and his criminal monopoly over Gotham City is known as the "Roman Empire." Perhaps most importantly, Falcone has a close connection to the Wayne family, which means he'll likely share a decent amount of screen time with our new Bruce, Robert Pattinson. He was played by Tom Wilkinson in Batman Begins and John Doman in the TV series Gotham.
