Rumors are coming in thick and fast for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, quite possibly one of the most anticipated comic book movies to ever be released. Very few have been outright confirmed by the Snyder team, but many of them have been dismissed simply by their own implausability.

The new and breaking rumor, however, seems like a pretty cast iron bet:

Dawn of Justice’s Female Robin

How do we know this? Because someone is risking bankruptcy to deliver you this juicy little development.

Presumably having worked on the initial filming during the LA production, an extra broke his non-disclosure agreement to reveal to WILX-10 News (in Michigan) that not only will there will be a female Robin, but that the female in question is none other than Jena Malone:

Malone is hot off the set from the last Hunger Games franchise entries, and curiously, someone’s added Dawn of Justice to her Wikipedia filmography (under an ‘unknown’ role) and IMDB have followed suit, although they’ve cautiously added a ‘rumored’ tag on the entry.

The extra who revealed this tantalizing leak may end up regretting speaking up, however. Assuming that it isn’t a clever marketing ploy from Warner themselves and that the extra isn’t a stooge, they’re eligible for a fine for breaking contract… of up to $5,000,000. 

The studio hasn’t commented on the news leak so far, though it was only broken an hour ago. While the fate of the extra lies in their hands (or at the hands of Warner’s lawyers), what other evidence do we have to back up the claim that the Jena Malone will play the new Robin?

1. Snyder himself has stated that he’s drawing off The Dark Knight Returns as source material, which features a young female admirer of Batman’s (Carrie Kelley) donning the Robin suit and becoming Wayne’s sidekick. There’s not really much reason to deviate from a female Robin, and it would probably help avoid the campiness that usually goes along with a male Robin.

2. Malone has been spotted in and around Michigan, where the next stage of production and filming is underway

3. She’s also dyed her hair red recently, a la Carrie Kelley’s motif

4. If the ‘extra leaks female Robin casting’ angle isn’t simply a PR stunt – and that cannot be ruled out – would anyone really risk never getting work again and a substantial fine if it wasn’t true? Either it’s a stunt or a genuine leak, and in either scenario it’s unlikely to be dud information.

We do, however, have to consider the other side:

The Case Against Jena Malone Playing Robin

The obvious talking point is that Jena is 29, whereas in the graphic novel Carrie Kelley is only 13. Clearly there’s no way Malone can convincingly play a female Robin even close to that age, and while it’s not a crippling roadblock for the character’s inclusion in the Batman v Superman movie, the extreme youth is fairly intrinsic to her characterization (assuming Snyder wants to stick as close as possible to canon).

The other issue is less of a technical problem, but no less worrysome for those who are holding out for Dawn of Justice being any good. Consider the current list of confirmed major characters which are set to appear:

• Batman
• Superman
• Wonder Woman
• Aquaman
• Lex Luthor
• Cyborg
• Louis Lane
• Alfred Pennyworth

That’s a lot of leading characters; add in another fairly major sidekick in the form of Robin, and it’s starting to look unfeasible that each character is going to get the correct amount of screen time and keep the movie as a well-rounded whole simultaneously.

Can Zack Snyder handle such a monumental task? Is Jena Malone up to the task of playing a female Robin?

Let your voice be heard in the comments below.