Today, the emotional roller coaster that Batfans have been forced to embark on continues. As you’ve probably heard by now, the latest chapter in the strange tale of Ben Affleck’s involvement in The Batman, director Matt Reeves’ cinematic take on the Dark Knight, saw Casey Affleck make some now infamous comments regarding his brother’s status when appearing on a WEEI radio broadcast.
Initially, some wrote it off as “fake news” that’s part of a “DC Extended Universe smear campaign,” but when actual video of said conversation surfaced, everyone was forced to put it under the microscope. So, before we proceed any further, let’s recap by once again going over Casey’s off-the-cuff remarks:
“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.”
This was then followed by him adding “Is that breaking news? Because I was just kind of making that up, I don’t know,” – but many thought he was just backpedaling. Additionally, we’d like to point out that his body language looked sincere when saying Ben won’t appear in The Batman, and that he looked a bit nervous when walking back on his initial comments.
And with this situation causing a veritable brush fire, it’s only understandable that some damage control be done. On that note, a representative for Casey had this to say to Buzzfeed: “he was having fun with the folks at the Red Sox game — where he threw out the first pitch in support of the Jimmy Fund — and not speaking from a place of firsthand knowledge.”
Likewise, one of Ben’s reps echoed his statement from San Diego Comic-Con by adding that “he’ll continue to be Batman as long as the studio will have him.” Again, we’ll say that Ben absolutely wants to star in The Batman, but “they” being Warner Bros. will ultimately make the decision.
So, regardless of whichever opinion you may favor, it’s vital to remember that we likely won’t truly know the deal until the movie actually begins production. Until then, we’ll all just be waiting on the edge of our seats.
