CANOGA PARK, Calif.—Today is "Batman Day," DC Entertainment's annual celebration of all things Gotham, and in honor of such, director Axel Braun has revealed that after an extensive virtual casting call, back-to-back AVN Best Actor Seth Gamble has been chosen as the new Dark Knight for the upcoming "DC AxelVerse" reboot The Batman XXX: An Axel Braun Parody Series.
"I am beyond honored to take on this iconic role," Gamble said. "Out of all the superheroes, Batman has always been the one I felt most connected with since I was a little kid, and to be able to wear the Batsuit now and bring this character to life is nothing short of a dream come true!"
The frequent Braun collaborator has embodied some of the most legendary roles in the director's canon over their decade-long professional relationship, including Luke Skywalker, Captain Boomerang, Mr. Hyde and Deadpool, the role that won Gamble his first AVN Best Actor trophy, and that he reprised in 2020 AVN Best Parody Captain Marvel XXX.
"I think the most intriguing part for me is exploring the 'Hero's Journey' to become Bruce, not Batman," added Gamble, a three-year-sober recovering addict whose own journey was recently profiled by Men’s Health. "Putting on a mask is easy, finding yourself can be way more challenging. Bruce Wayne has to walk a long path through grief, guilt, revenge and acceptance, and hopefully with everything I'm willing to bring to the role, I'll be able to do it as much justice as possible."
For his part, 10-time consecutive AVN Best Parody winner Braun effused, "I have never met an actor as gifted, intense and versatile as Seth. He's always made my movies better, not just with his outstanding performances, but also by bringing to the set a level of professionalism, focus and discipline that is an inspiration for the entire cast and crew, including myself. And his audition was just incredible. He really captured the essence of the character, not by doing an impersonation, but by making it his own. I have to say, a lot of performers put real effort in their auditions, and two of them were quite exceptional ... but Seth was just on a whole different level."
Braun noted that Gamble showed an extreme level of commitment in his audition, going to the lengths of renting a studio, hiring a cameraman and gaffer, and even purchasing a professional Batman cowl to don. "It didn't even look like an audition," Braun said. "It actually looked like a series of clips from a finished movie. That's how invested Seth is. Now, keep in mind, he is not only a two-time AVN Best Actor winner who has consistently proven himself by delivering incredible performances in my movies for over a decade, he is also one of my best friends ... most people in his position wouldn't think they needed to go to this extent to get a role from me. But he did. Because he is not most people."
"Needless to say, it's always special when I get to create with Axel, he's such an incredible director!" Gamble gushed. "The synergy that we have is incomparable. We are both very passionate and we always strive for perfection, which is why every project we've ever worked on together has been memorable. I cannot wait to dive into this character and give Batman fans something fresh, aweome and exciting!"
Having built his career on parodies that often rival their mainstream counterparts, Braun reports that in the instance at least of the casting process for this project, the line became so blurred that one Hollywood agent mistakenly assumed these auditions were being held to replace Robert Pattinson in the big screen version of The Batman, since production of that film was recently suspended when the actor tested positive for COVID-19.
"That was quite an OMG moment," Braun said, divulging that he received a number of mainstream submissions due to the mix-up. "There was a fairly known soap opera actor who was actually great ... but to be quite honest, the majority were comically worse than most of the adult performers. And that's without even takng their clothes off. I do feel sorry for the poor agent who probably lost a bunch of clients, but then again, in the era of influencers, porn can be a pretty good launching platform for a successful career ... where would Kim Kardashian be without her sex tape?"
The Batman XXX: An Axel Braun Parody Series will join other productions under Wicked Pictures' Wicked Comix banner including Batman v Superman XXX, Justice League XXX, Supergirl XXX, Captain Marvel XXX, Suicide Squad XXX and Deadpool XXX.
