While Marvel fans were primed for some kind of announcement about either Henry Cavill or Dwayne Johnson signing up for the MCU experience, the latest rumors are pointing to another erstwhile DC hero potentially hopping over to the rival superhero franchise instead. According to some new — and very unconfirmed at this time, it has to be stated — intel, Ben Affleck is in talks with Marvel Studios to play the role of minotaur supervillain Dario Agger in an unknown upcoming project.
While the veracity of these rumors remains to be seen, what all this talk about Affleck possibly joining Marvel makes clear is that the MCU is bizarrely a much better home for Batman actors than the DC multiverse is at this point. For starters, if Affleck were to partner up with the House of Ideas, he would be the third cinematic Dark Knight to play a villain for Marvel. The other two are, of course, Michael Keaton (Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Morbius) and Christian Bale (Thor: Love and Thunder).
OK, so Morbius and Love and Thunder might be among the most disappointing comic book flicks of 2022, but at least Marvel is keeping the Batmans of past, present, and future in regular employment, whereas DC has treated some of its most iconic leading men pretty shamefully over the past 12 months. Keaton’s secondary comeback in Batgirl was canned before we got to see it while Affleck was first invited back for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom before being booted out the door again under James Gunn’s new regime.
Then there’s The Flash, which was originally promoted as featuring two Bruce Waynes in both Keaton and Affleck, paving the way for an exciting multiverse of Batmen moving forward, what with Robert Pattinson over on Earth-Batman. However, next summer’s Scarlet Speedster solo outing is now destined to act as the last gasp of the old DCEU rather than a triumphant celebration of its history and potential.
In fact, if Affleck really did make a deal with Marvel, Kevin Feige could even beat DC at their own game one day and conceivably throw three Batmen together in the same movie — maybe Thunderbolts 2 could include Adrian Toomes, a resurrected Gorr, and Affleck’s Dario Agger teaming up? Hey, stranger things have happened. Things like Batman stars finding a more reliable home with Marvel instead of DC, for example.
