The rumors that point to Ben Affleck hanging up the cape and cowl continue to fester and honestly, they’re a bit upsetting to hear. Though we’ve only really seen him as Batman in two films so far, he’s left a pretty good impression and turned many doubters into fans. In fact, for a lot of DC supporters, he’s the only interpretation of the Dark Knight that they’ll accept on the big screen right now.
After seeing his work in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, it became difficult to picture anyone else but him in the dual role of Bruce Wayne and Batman. And though Justice League wasn’t a great movie, Big Ben certainly wasn’t to blame, as he gave us another interesting and exciting take on the Caped Crusader.
While it’s hard to say that Batfleck is the best version of the character, he certainly has a lot of supporters, but apparently, The Batman director Matt Reeves isn’t one of them. From what we understand, the filmmaker has a very different vision for one of DC’s most beloved heroes and is looking to cast a younger actor in a story that takes place earlier in the timeline. And though WB has yet to confirm that that’s indeed what they’re planning, a new report from THR has once again cast doubt on Affleck returning to the role.
While discussing the production schedule for The Batman, the outlet notes that “presumably,” it won’t be Ben leading the film, and given that Warner Bros. wants to begin shooting in November, we’ll likely learn of his replacement between now and then. Of course, “presumably” doesn’t mean that the studio is 100% bringing in someone new, but the way THR’s article is worded certainly makes it sound like writers Aaron Couch and Borys Kit, both of whom have many industry sources, believe that Affleck’s out.
And while that’s definitely a shame, it is understandable when you consider that both Justice League and BvS come with their fair share of baggage and by putting Affleck into Reeves’ film, they’ll only be bringing some of that into his movie. Still, it would’ve been nice to see a pic focused entirely on Ben’s take on the role rather than having him share the limelight with Superman or the rest of the League.
But it seems it just wasn’t meant to be and when The Batman finally does hit theaters, we’ll likely have to get used to someone else bringing to life one of DC’s most iconic characters.
