More BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN Rumors: O’Quinn Vs. Purefroy as Luthor, Flash and Wonder Woman Cameos

I truly believe that Warner Brothers is engaging in psychological warfare with the film world’s rumor mongers. Because we get another spate of rumors today for Batman vs. Superman that contradict rumors that came before.

This time the media outlet is ComicBookMovie, one of the more reliable sites on the web, and their source at Warner Brothers offers up different rumors than we’ve heard before.

• CBM’s sources state that Terry O’Quinn, who was rumored to be on the short list to play Lex Luthor, was never considered for the role.
• However, the source says that The Following‘s James Purefroy was offered the role, and Purefroy turned them down flat. “Wanted nothing to do with it” is how they put it. At least he rejected the role before filming started (~cough cough~V for Vendetta~cough cough~)
• The source says that the film’s take on Lex Luthor mirrors the way the character was presented in the comics post-John Byrne reboot.In other words, he will be a successful business man, charismatic and loved by the general populace, who considers Superman to be a dangerous alien threat and that he’s the only one who could combat it. I hope this is true. It would be better than the genocidal land grab schemes that defined the character in previous film incarnations.
• The Flash is set to cameo in the film, but in his civilian identity. Who will play him? Well, according to the source, that depends on how well Grant Gustin’s appearance as Barry Allen, a.k.a. Flash, goes on Arrow. If his appearance on that TV show goes well, then he will reprise the role in the film, leading to a more cohesive union between DC’s film and television’s empires. If it doesn’t go over as well, then the film Flash will be recast and the film and TV worlds will remain separate.
• Wonder Woman is also set for only a cameo, not a lead as has been so widely bandied about, also in her civilian identity of “Diana.”
• So that means Gig Gadot,  Élodie Yung, and Olga Kurylenko are auditioning to play Bruce Wayne’s love interest, right? Wrong, says CBM’s souces. They say that Warners is looking for an African-American actress to cast in that role, and that the love interest will be someone who has been with Bruce a while, someone he trusts and knows his secret identity. (My guess, if these rumors prove true, they’re auditioning for Talia Al’ Ghul)

Again, since I think Warners is deliberately leaking false information by this point, we have to take every rumor with a bowling ball-sized grain of salt. But at least it gives us something to talk about.