Ben Affleck Reportedly Wants Larry David for 'Superman vs. Batman'

It may seem like a lifetime ago, which it was in Hollywood terms, but HBO's resident angry curmudgeon Larry David was briefly linked to the role of Vulture in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4. Of course it never happened, and even then it was downright weird to think of the Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm creator as part of any superhero universe. But in one of the more craziest rumors to emerge in quite some time, David is apparently being courted to play Superman's silliest foe Mr. Mxyzptlk in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel sequel.

According to Radar Online's source, it's Ben Affleck who is pushing to have his pal David take on the role, with the pair supposedly chatting up "the idea with earnest abandon" over Emmy weekend. David is apparently mulling the idea over, with the site quoted as saying....

"...Ben is somebody he trusts and enjoys spending time with and this could be the right situation for Larry to finally appear in a huge-grossing hit film. Fun speculation that it could be for the famed Superman enemy role of Mr. Myxlplyx [sic] could make this piece more exciting, since Larry is a dead ringer for the character."

For those not familiar with all of Kal El's "rogue's gallery", Mr. Mxyzptlk was a diminutive all-powerful trickster from the 5th dimension who was more of a nuisance than anything else, but could only be stopped if someone fooled him into saying or spelling his name backwards. Even though the character has since been updated to become less of a goof, he still seems far too silly for a film that will pit Superman vs. Batman.  Doubtful that screenwriter David Goyer sat at his desk and said "The only way to top Man of Steel is to use Mr. Mxyzptlk! Of course!".

The source goes on to add that Affleck is really throwing his weight around and "taking over the whole production", meaning he could use his influence and cred with Warner Bros. to bring David aboard. But as the story itself notes, this is just "fun speculation", which to me sounds like a casual admission that this whole thing has pulled out of their butts. You never know, though, and maybe if David comes aboard he can lure Jason Alexander in to play the Penguin?