The Batman: John Turturro Talks Playing Carmine Falcone

While we wait for The Batman to re-commence production, actor John Turturro recently sat down with The Inquirer and revealed a little bit about his role as Gotham City mob boss Carmine Falcone.

“I’m playing the bad guy,” he said. “I loved Batman growing up, but I’m really a Zorro fan [Laughs]. So there’s no Batman without Zorro. When I was 5 years old, I thought I was Zorro with a sword. I had a stick that I hit my father with all the time. Then, when Batman came on TV, it was a big thrill.”

“I read some of the comics. My sons always read DC comics,” Turturro continued. “So I played with those for years. I like Matt Reeves, the director. It’s an interesting cast.”

Falcone was previously portrayed by Tom Wilkinson in Batman Begins and John Doman on the Fox series Gotham.

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Starring alongside Robert Pattinson’s Batman/Bruce Wayne is Zoë Kravitz (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Mad Max: Fury Road) as Selina Kyle; Paul Dano (Love & Mercy, 12 Years a Slave) as Edward Nashton; Jeffrey Wright (the Hunger Games films) as the GCPD’s James Gordon; John Turturro (the Transformers films) as Carmine Falcone; Peter Sarsgaard (The Magnificent Seven, Black Mass) as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson; Jayme Lawson (Farewell Amor) as mayoral candidate Bella Reál; with Andy Serkis (the Planet of the Apes films, Black Panther) as Alfred; and Colin Farrell (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Dumbo) as Oswald Cobblepot. Twins Max and Charlie Carver have also joined the movie in “sizable roles.”

Reeves and Dylan Clark (the Planet of the Apes films) are producing the film, with Simon Emanuel, Michael E. Uslan, Walter Hamada and Chantal Nong Vo serving as executive producers.

Plot details are still being kept under wraps but The Batman is reportedly set to explore the Dark Knight’s younger years with Reeves further hinting at the film’s connection to the iconic comic book story arc “Year One” by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli which was published in 1987.

Reeves’ behind-the-scenes creative team includes Oscar-nominated director of photography Greig Fraser (Lion, Dune); his Planet of the Apes production designer, James Chinlund; editors William Hoy (the Planet of the Apes films) and Tyler Nelson (Rememory); and Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Dan Lemmon (The Jungle Book); Oscar-nominated SFX supervisor Dominic Tuohy (1917, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker).

Also on board are Oscar-nominated sound mixer Stuart Wilson (1917, the Star Wars franchise); Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran (1917, Little Women, Anna Karenina) and costume designers Glyn Dillon (the Star Wars franchise) and David Crossman (1917, the Star Wars franchise); hair designer Zoe Tahir (No Time to Die, Spectre); and Oscar-nominated makeup designer Naomi Donne (1917). As was previously confirmed, Michael Giacchino (Cloverfield, Let Me In, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) will be composing the score for the film.

The Batman opens in theaters on June 25, 2021.