The rumours that Ben Affleck is about to hang up his cowl for good and bow out of the role of Batman are nothing new, but – with Justice League hitting cinemas this week – the story is really intensifying at the moment. Apart from Affleck himself seeming noncommittal about his DCEU future, new reports have arrived claiming that, not only does The Batman director Matt Reeves not want Affleck to star in his movie, but that he’s already got a replacement lined up: Jake Gyllenhaal.
Still, it’s worth remembering that nothing official has been announced by Warner Bros. yet and, according to them, the actor is continuing on as Bruce Wayne for the foreseeable future. This position is backed up by DC producer Charles Roven. While chatting with CBR, he echoed his previous statements by saying that he believes the star is “certainly planning” on starring in The Batman.
“I’m not producing that movie, Matt Reeves is working on that, but I do work with Ben, so I know that he’s certainly planning on starring in that film, but I don’t know what the script is. I’m not producing that movie, so I’m probably the wrong guy to ask.”
While Roven may be of the opinion that Affleck’s planning to stay on board, his comments won’t offer much of an assurance to Batfleck fans. As someone who admits they’re not actively involved with The Batman, Roven might not be on top of current developments with the movie, so his info could be slightly out of date. Plus, this statement follows on from a similar answer Roven gave earlier this week, in which he made clear he didn’t know “anything for certain.”
By now, it’s abundantly obvious that there’s definitely a lot of uncertainty behind the scenes about the future of Batman in the DCEU. Seeing as the franchise hasn’t exactly had an easy ride of it so far, that’s not what fans want to hear. Still, if Affleck does want out, then the best thing would be to let him go and start fresh.
