The comic book genre continues to be wildly popular, and fans who spent years watching the DC movies in order have watched as co-CEO James Gunn has introduced a new shared universe to the masses. Fans are curious about who might play which characters in upcoming DC movies, leading to countless rumors and theories. Some actors are also campaigning for roles, case in point being Heated Rivalry's Hudson Williams actively trying to play Nightwing.
Heated Rivalry is wildly popular right now for those with a HBO Max subscription, making household names out of its two stars. Williams plays protagonist Shane Hollander, and he recently took to Instagram Story to try and get Gunn's attention. You can see his post below:
Hudson is officially shooting his shot, and I have to tip my hat to his chutzpah. Heated Rivalry is a HBO show that's got the world talking, so it's a great time for him to make some moves. That includes this not-so-subtle hint that he wants to play Nightwing in the DCU. Are you listening, James Gunn?
There's been chatter about a Nightwing project dating back to the previous DCEU. Chris McKay was slated to direct the project, which never got out of development hell. A report claimed the Nightwing movie was dead in the DCU, but perhaps that's because Gunn and company want to craft a new one. Fingers crossed we get to see Dick Grayson on the big screen sometime soon.
Throughout the former DCEU, Batman's protegees were noticeably missing. Aside from the dead Robin suit we saw in Batman v Superman and the scrapped Batgirl movie, we never got to see The Dark Knight interact with the larger Bat-family. Fans are hoping that changes in the newly formed shared universe, and clearly Hudson Williams is ready to play Dick Grayson aka Nighwing. And I think he's got the talent and physique to pull off the role.
The first slate of DCU projects is titled Gods and Monsters, and one of the announced movies was The Brave and The Bold. This was originally billed as a film about Batman and his son, Robin Damian Wayne. Unfortunately Gunn put doubt on whether or not this family story would still be included, which has me wondering if we'll even get to see Robin at all. As a DC fan who has always loved Bruce Wayne's sidekicks, I'm really hoping that some members of the Bat-family get to join the shared universe sooner rather than later.
The next DC movie hitting theaters is Supergirl on June 26th as part of the 2026 movie release list. As for Hudson Williams, he can be seen in new episodes of Heated Rivalry airing Fridays on HBO Max. We'll just have to wait and see if he's actually in the running to play Dick Grayson/Nightwing in the DCU.
