Last month, DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran revealed a rejigged release slate for their burgeoning new cinematic universe, teasing everything from Mike Flanagan's Clayface movie to a live-action Teen Titans joint. During the presentation, Gunn also confirmed that a long-since whispered about Luca Guadagnino Sgt. Rock film is indeed in the works over at the DCU — and that the feature could shoot this summer "if [they] find the perfect actor." And lo and behold, it looks like Gunn and Safran have found their man. According to Deadline, none other than The Penguin himself, Colin Farrell, is being lined up to play DC's eponymous Nazi fighting war hero.
Now, we know what you're thinking: "How can Colin Farrell be DC's Sgt. Rock when he's already DC's Penguin?" Well, technically Colin Farrell is DC Elseworlds' Penguin, meaning his Oz Cobb belongs to a standalone pocket of the DC Universe that The Batman's Matt Reeves presides over. Guadagnino's planned WWII actioner Sgt. Rock on the other hand would fall under the mainline DCU's umbrella, existing in the same continuity as the likes of Gunn's own upcoming Superman and next year's Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow. At this point in time, we don't know exactly what Guadagnino has in store for his take on Sgt. Rock, a fearless character born of the post-war comics boom who leads his Easy Company unit in the fight against the Third Reich with neither batarang nor heat vision to his name. What we do know however is that his Challengers and Queer scribe Justin Kuritzkes has already polished off a screenplay, and that Farrell is reportedly very keen on the gig — so long as he can squeeze it in around his prior commitments to Sugar Season 2 at Apple TV+ and shooting on Conclave director Edward Berger's The Ballad Of A Small Player.
Originally a role that Daniel Craig had been sized up for, Sgt. Rock would certainly represent a different kind of acting challenge for Farrell, who (in)famously wasn't massively keen on the arduous prosthetics process involved in becoming The Penguin — even if it did win him top honours at the Golden Globes, SAG, and Critics Choice awards. And Sgt. Rock would definitely be a change of pace for Guadagnino, who told Empire late last year that he felt Queer marked the natural end of his 'desire' cycle of movies. If Gunn sticks to his, er, guns on this one, then expect more updates on Guadagnino's latest to come thick and fast as that mooted summer UK shoot gets closer. In the meantime, join us in basking in the glory of the idea of a movie in which we'll probably get to watch Colin Farrell go all Sisu on a bunch of Nazis. Cinema!