‘Probably not’: ‘Aquaman 2’ director has bad news for anyone awaiting Ben Affleck’s final appearance as the DCEU’s Batman

Befitting its status as a franchise that’s been in a near-constant state of turmoil since its very inception, the DCEU couldn’t even decide which Batman would make a cameo appearance in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

At first, Michael Keaton was intended to show up as part of a rejigged timeline, but when the release date domino effect saw his re-debut and ultimate demise in The Flash released first, Ben Affleck was drafted in for reshoots to presumably fulfill much the same role.

However, in anybody hoping that the shared universe’s canonical Caped Crusader would get one more chance to say goodbye before riding off into the sunset with his cape and cowl in tow, director James Wan dropped a devastating bombshell when quizzed by Empire on whether or not Affleck’s scene would remain in the final cut.

“Probably not. All I’ll say is that those scenes were just to have something in the bank in case we needed to explain time continuity if we came out first. But it ended up with Lost Kingdom coming after The Flash“.

Unless he ends up throwing it in there for the sake of fan service as the DCEU ends its decade-long run of inconsistency, it doesn’t look as though there’s going to be any sort of Batman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Of course, superhero blockbusters aren’t defined by who does or doesn’t pop up despite what some sections of the internet want you to think, but the bad buzz means the jury remains well and truly out on whether the saga will bow out with a bang or fizzle and wither away.