It’s been a tough couple of weeks for fans of the Caped Crusader, as Ben Affleck’s commitment to Warner Bros.’ burgeoning cinematic universe has been called into question more times than we can count. Even with the actor reaffirming his love of the character at San Diego Comic-Con, doubt was still cast over his involvement in Matt Reeves’ The Batman and of course, the studio is refusing to comment or confirm anything one way or another.
Now, the situation has worsened, as someone very close to the actor has strongly hinted that Ben is indeed getting ready to walk away from the project. Casey Affleck, his brother, recently appeared on WEEI Sports Radio to promote his new film, A Ghost Story. During the interview, he spoke briefly about Ben’s performance as the Caped Crusader and said the following:
I thought he was an OK Batman. No, I thought he was great. He was great. He’s a hero, so he had something to channel and work with there. But he’s not going to do that movie [The Batman], I don’t think. Sorry to say.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting. /Film reports that it was at this point Casey was told that what he just said is breaking news – which, if true, it most definitely is. In response, the actor attempted to backtrack, saying:
“Is that breaking news? Because I was just kind of making that up, I don’t know.”
Of course, the big question now is was Affleck truly just making stuff up, or did he accidentally let something slip? It’s tough to say, but if it’s the latter, it would be a pretty big mistake for him to make, one that could have huge ramifications. As such, it’s unlikely he’d be foolish enough to let the cat out of the bag like this. Especially now, as the topic of Ben’s commitment to the film is a touchy one for both the actor and studio.
Then again, we’ve heard one rumor after another in recent months that all point to Warner Bros. losing Batfleck pretty soon and Casey’s comments here do line up with that. Unfortunately though, we’ll just have to wait and see how the story develops from here, but we must say, it’s not looking too good right about now and we wouldn’t be at all surprised if Ben walks from the franchise sooner rather than later.
If that does indeed happen, fans can at least look forward to seeing the actor’s Batman on the big screen once more in Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon’s Justice League, which descends into theatres on November 17th. At that point, we should know much more about the actor’s future (or lack thereof) in the DC Extended Universe.
