We’ve known about a movie based on the classic hero of old, The Lone Ranger, for over three years now.

We’ve also known that superstar Johnny Depp would be involved since September of 2008 when he made an appearance at a Disney event to announce his involvement in Alice in Wonderland, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and of course, The Lone Ranger, in which we all assumed he’d be playing the titles role.

We soon found out that Depp would actually be playing Tonto instead, and since then many names have surfaced as possible candidates for the coveted high-profile role. Everyone from George Clooney to the more recent Ryan Gosling was mentioned, but Walt Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have now officially found their man: Armie Hammer.

Now, many of you might respond to that with a “who?!” but it’s quite likely you’d recognize the actor if you saw him. Hammer is best known for his work on Best Picture nominee The Social Network, where he played both of the Winklevoss twins, who still to this day are at legal war with Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg (played in the film by Jesse Eisenberg) over who actually created the social networking mega-site.

Aside from that, Hammer had runs on Gossip Girl and a personal favorite of my own, Reaper, where he played the Devil’s other more narcissistic son, Morgan. Though the actor’s resume isn’t jam-packed yet, it’s about to. In addition to his casting in The Lone Ranger, he’s also got four other titles in various stages of production, including Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar and The Brother’s Grimm: Snow White.

Hammer was also set to play Batman once upon a time, when Warner Brothers was planning to make a Justice League movie. That movie is still expected to happen at some point in the next few years, but it’s unknown whether or not Hammer will still be their top choice for the role.

[Source: Showblitz]