Hunt for the next Batman on, here's who could be the next Bruce Wayne

The battle for the cowl has gotten quite intense. There are plenty of rumours floating around in cyber space as to who will play Batman in the sequel to Man Of Steel.

Josh Brolin, Richard Armitage, Max Martini, Matthew Goode and Ryan Gosling are among the top runners. There's also the question of whether Christian Bale will take up the cowl once again.

Although the 50 million dollars he was supposedly offered for the role turned out false, many fans would love to see him don the cape and cowl a few more times. But that seems less and less likely, so Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder are looking at other candidates and have narrowed it down to the aforementioned few.

Now, although not much has been released in terms of spoilers, we know the movie will see two of the world's greatest and most beloved characters face off. Now, whether it will follow Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns which shows an aged Batman in the near future (Which wouldn't be the best move considering this movie is supposed to set up the Justice League movie which wouldn't work well with Batman in his 50's) or more closely follow a a meeting of Batman and Superman resulting in a showdown due to different view points, or knowing Snyder's flair for adding his own new spin on stories, he might just work off the Injustice - Gods Among Us story line.

Whatever the plot line is, a new caped crusader is needed.

So here are my opinions on the choices at hand.
 

Josh Brolin could definitely play Batman in a Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns adaptation. He has the dark and controlled edge of Batman and he has a wide number of brilliant movies under his belt to ensure he has the acting chops. But if the Man of Steel sequel is a stepping stone to the formation of the Justice League, then Brolin at 45 might be too old to be Batman at the beginning of his career, especially in comparison to 30-year-old Cavill.
 

Ryan Gosling is definitely the golden boy of Hollywood right now, with a string of hit movies and his name appearing in the tabloids all the time. He will definitely boost the financial appeal of the movie and brings a certain amount of A-List star power, but overall he doesn't fit the bill for Batman. He actually might fit the bill for Bruce Wayne, with that Playboy look and his smooth charms but as for striking fear into the hearts of criminals he just falls a little short.
 

Matthew Goode already has history with Snyder; he played Ozymandias in Snyder's 2009 adaptation of Watchmen, and he did a brilliant job. No one doubts his acting abilities, but much like Gosling just doesn't seem like Dark Knight material.  Although being the second youngest on this list at 35, he does fit the bill age wise, and who knows he might actually surprise us as Batman.
 

Max Martini is a relatively unknown name to the casual movie goer. He has proven he can play tough guy roles through guest stints on TV shows. Again age might be a factor at 43, but if Frank Miller's story is what Snyder is aiming at then Martini has a good chance of snagging the role.
 

Richard Armitage is pretty busy with his role as Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit trilogy. He has shown that he can handle demanding roles and provide depth in terms of character development but he's definitely one of the dark horses in the race.

There are other names being tossed around like Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Joe Manganiello and Orlando Bloom; But the above five are the front runners.

Snyder hasn't really released any details on casting or the script but considering he used an excerpt from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns in his announcement at Comic Con as well as arranging meetings with Frank Miller himself to hear his ideas on the possible script, it's not that much of a leap to assume that at least some part of the graphic novel will lend itself to the movie.

Although Brolin and Gosling are the front runners in the race, until Snyder finalises a script it's anyone's guess who the next Dark Knight will be.