10 Things We Want To See In Ben Affleck’s The Batman

UPDATE: It's now been announced that Matt Reeves will direct the film, not Affleck. The DC Extended Universe has many exciting projects in the pipeline – from next year’s Wonder Woman and Justice League to touted movies we don’t know much about yet like Green Lantern Corps. One of those that's most exciting the fans, though, is The Batman – the upcoming solo Dark Knight movie starring, written and directed by Ben Affleck. Previously, the Batman movies have usually been the jewel in the crown of DC's films, so a lot of people are hoping that any growing pains of this cinematic universe will be fixed in a movie about their most reliable property. This specific version of Batman was also mostly a hit in the otherwise derided Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, and fans want to see what Affleck can do with the character when he's in charge of the material as well. Thankfully, we shouldn’t have too long to wait, as the film will most likely arrive in 2018. So, what do we most want from The Batman, apart from being another great Dark Knight movie? Here's 10 things we're looking for Affleck to deliver in the film if it's to succeed. No pressure, Ben. 10) No Killing This one is obvious, but needs to be said anyway. One of the most controversial aspects of BvS was the presentation of Batman as tantamount to a serial killer, with several scenes depicting him brutally taking down hoodlums in ways that would surely kill them (not to mention plowing into people in the Batmobile). In the film’s defense, this suited the grizzlier, older iteration of Batman that it was going for; one who had suffered the death of Robin at the hands of the Joker and was feeling powerless in the face of Superman. For The Batman, though, we want to see the character return to his usual no-killing stance. Now that he's become best pals with Supes, he'll presumably want to honour him in his death by becoming a more hopeful hero. Likewise, he'll also have formed the Justice League and fought alongside a bunch of lighter heroes like The Flash and Wonder Woman by that time. Some of their more virtuous tendencies are bound to rub off on him, right? 9) Resolution Of The Robin Mystery As we just mentioned, when we meet him in BvS, Ben Affleck’s Batman has been crime fighting in Gotham for a while. Long enough for him to train up his sidekick Robin, only to see him die at the Joker's hands. Well, at least, that's what we assume. All of this has only been conveyed in a single brief scene in the movie, in which Bruce comes across an outfit that you can just about make out as Robin’s, adorned with Joker-like graffiti. Hardcore fans will be able to put two and two together and work out that the film is alluding to when Joker brutally killed Jason Todd, the second Robin, in the comics. General viewers, though, are given no context here. Hopefully we'll get an explanation about this in The Batman. The death of a young man in his care is a hugely dramatic backstory that needs to be properly mined. At last it would give us a fresh impetus for Batman's pain, other than the boring old murder of his parents. 8) Meet Bruce Wayne Despite everything that was squeezed into Batman V Superman, Ben Affleck probably got the lion’s share of the screentime as the Dark Knight – arguably stealing the show as he pummelled bad guys and went toe-to-toe with Superman. One big element of the character was not explored nearly enough though – Bruce Wayne. We got only a few hints at Bruce’s life outside the cowl, enough to give us a vague flavour that Affleck’s Bruce is a billionaire playboy gone to seed. The kind of guy who wakes up in the middle of the night next to an anonymous woman to glug back some alcohol and pop some pills. But we don’t really get a feel for what makes Affleck’s Bruce different from other versions, in the sense of his everyday life. Does the DCEU’s Bruce Wayne pretend to be a drunken idiot like Bale’s? Or is he a competent, lonely businessman like Keaton’s? We’ve obviously seen the whole secret identity thing play out many times now, but it’s something that has to be there, otherwise it's conspicuous by its absence. 7) Batfleck vs. The Joker Suicide Squad provided an interesting – hugely underdeveloped, but interesting all the same – look at the Joker away from Batman. For once, the primary relationship in the Clown Prince of Crime’s life was not with his mortal enemy but with his girlfriend Harley Quinn. While we mostly want to see the Joker and Harley’s complex romance explored in future films, history dictates that we have to see these versions of Batman and the Joker go at it as well. To be clear, no one's calling for the Joker to be the main villain of The Batman, as we've seen that so many times before. Besides, we already know that Deathstroke will get that honour. No, all we ask is for a chance to see how Ben Affleck and Jared Leto play the rivalry between the two, and what other elements of Leto’s Joker are brought out when he’s opposite Batman rather than next to Harley. The best place for this is perhaps a flashback to Robin’s death, which could show us a rare time when the Joker beat Batman. 6) Lots Of Villain Cameos Batman’s rogues gallery is undoubtedly the most jam-packed with iconic characters in all of comicdom. After all the various movie versions of the character, the general audience is very familiar with a lot of them by now. As such, the best way to capitalize on both the many great villains and people’s familiarity with them in The Batman is to feature them in cameo roles. Though it doesn’t seem to be the case anymore, an early rumour about the film suggested it would revolve around Arkham Asylum, thereby including just about everyone of Batman’s major villains in some capacity. This would have been a brilliant idea, as it would fit with the fact that this version of Batman is long in the tooth. There’s no reason to tell all the origin stories again as he’s already faced his foes several times before. Pop the Penguin in one scene and rustle up the Riddler in other, just to remind us that this isn't like previous films which have introduced the villains one by one. In this world, Batman's rogues gallery is already out there. 5) A Great Deathstroke What's even more important than featuring multiple villains is to make sure the main antagonist is up to snuff. The Batman movies have always featured some of the best supervillains around – from Jack Nicholson’s Joker to Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman to, natch, Heath Ledger’s Joker. The Batman has to deliver a character who can stand shoulder to shoulder with those if it's going to measure up to previous movies. The primary villain of The Batman is, of course, Deathstroke the Terminator – as played by Joe Manganiello. The Magic Mike actor is definitely someone who can sell the power of the character, which is exciting. We’ve seen several unpredictable villains who can keep Batman on his toes mentally, but apart from Bane there've not been that many who could match him in a physical way. In that sense, Deathstroke is already looking good. Now it’s up to Affleck and co-writer Geoff Johns to give him some great material to work with. If you’re looking for inspiration, fellas, we recommend giving Arrow season 2 a watch. 4) Go Easy On The Crossovers Despite all this talk of having lots of villains involved, it would be best for The Batman if it stuck to simply playing with the Batman mythos rather than trying to work in major roles for other Justice League members. Obviously, this is the first Batman movie we’ve ever had that takes place in a world with Superman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the gang running around out there. So, on the one hand, that will be what makes this one different from those that have come before and is something that should be made the most of. On the other, the DCEU movies so far has suffered from shoehorning in references to the wider universe at the expense of the films’ internal storyline. By all means, remind us that Metropolis is just across the water and that Bruce and Diana have a sort of thing, but it would be best for the movie if Batman was mostly left to his own devices. 3) The Formation Of The Bat-Family Given that at least one Robin exists in the DCEU, it stands to reason that other members of the Bat-family are hanging around Gotham as well – at the very least Dick Grayson (presumably as Nightwing) and Barbara Gordon (either as Batgirl or Oracle). If so, those characters really need to make an appearance in The Batman. For too long, the movies have been obsessed with the Dark Knight as a lone ranger, when actually one of the most interesting things about the character in the comics is that he's such a lonely man and yet has accidentally become the father of an adopted family. We had Robin and Batgirl in Batman & Robin, of course, but that hardly counts. The LEGO Batman Movie will also have fun with those characters, though we really want to see the team taken seriously in a way that they never have been in a movie before. Batman hasn’t been a figure of fun for a long while, but to the general public, Robin and Batgirl still are. It’s about time that changed. 2) Remind Us That He’s The World’s Greatest Detective Comic book readers might know him as the World’s Greatest Detective, but this common nickname for Batman has never actually been uttered in a film. The reason for that is simple: movie Batman is not a detective in the slightest. The likes of Batman Begins have entirely convinced us of Batman’s magnified strength, stamina and bravery, but we’ve never got much of a sense that he has an amazingly analytical brain under that cowl. The cinematic Batman tends to go in with his fists rather than his mind, which is a shame, as it's an integral part of the character that every movie so far has left on the floor. Batman V Superman actually showed some headway in this, with a subplot being devoted to Bruce’s investigation into the mysterious White Portuguese. Given this, we hope The Batman will be as much of a thrilling detective story as it is a great action-packed ride. 1) A Tight, Well-Told Storyline While loads of villains, multiple sidekicks and whatnot would be a lot of fun, the main thing we want from The Batman is pretty simple: a good story. This is harder than it sounds, though. After both Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad, it's clear that the DCEU has a big problem with streamlining its films and focussing on its storytelling. BvS put a gloomy mood, strong visuals and a big build-up to the titular fight above everything else which meant that, for the most part, it was a meandering, muddled movie. Suicide Squad, on the other hand, was so caught up with being fast-paced and fun that the narrative was edited down to near extinction – with only the mangled bones of a clear plot remaining. We don’t want that mistake repeated for The Batman. If Affleck and his team can deliver a tight, engaging film that manages to allude to a wider universe as well as telling its own complete story, then they'll be onto a winner.