From day one, Ben Affleck’s The Batman has sparked speculation all across the Internet – casting, filming locations, villains, you name it – and the lack of communication coming out of Warner Bros. has only fuelled that fire.
Last we checked in on Affleck’s passion project, the writer-director had earmarked spring 2017 as a potential production start, leading to reports claiming that The Batman could swoop into theatres as early as 2018. Still no update on the release date front, but according to Joe Manganiello, the Caped Crusader’s next standalone picture is further along in pre-production than first anticipated, after Manganiello claimed The Batman would officially enter development “at some point this year” while appearing on The Rich Eisen Show (via Batman-News).
Now, before jumping to conclusions, the Deathstroke actor likely used “this year” loosely, referring to the next 12 months rather than the remainder of 2016. Besides, with Affleck busy overseeing the release of bootlegging thriller Live By Night – coupled with the sheer demand of writing, producing, directing and starring in The Batman – it leads us to believe that the possibility of WB’s solo movie kicking off over the next few weeks is nothing more than wishful thinking.
Meanwhile, here’s the full quote from Manganiello’s appearance on TIRS:
“It’s about Gotham, and this guy dresses up like a bat”. He then got a little more serious. I play the world’s deadliest assassin, who also has one eye. We will start at some point this year, it looks like.”
The Batman is without an official release date at the moment, but fans can look forward to Ben Affleck donning the cape and cowl for Zack Snyder’s Justice League movie. It’ll open in a post-Woman Woman landscape on November 17, 2017.
