The Ben Affleck saga rages on today, with Revenge of the Fans publishing a new report which sheds some light on why the actor’s decided to walk away from The Batman and the role of the Caped Crusader in general.
A few weeks ago, Variety told us that Big Ben was officially out, which came as quite a shock. After all, we’d recently heard that he was back in talks with Warner Bros. and things were going well. Apparently that was true, as Revenge of the Fans claims that “Affleck and some supporters within the studio engaged Matt Reeves” about the idea of having a few scenes in the film which featured an older Caped Crusader.
Turns out the director wasn’t interested, though, with the outlet going on to say that he turned them down and instead chose to focus only on a younger Batman. What’s more is that WB would’ve also had Ben cameo in another upcoming DC film, but it all came down to whether Reeves would sign off on the idea, and he didn’t. As Revenge of the Fans notes, though, the Cloverfield director isn’t entirely to blame.
Here’s how they outlined the situation:
Affleck was open to the idea. And some within the studio were interested in the idea, if they could get the stars to align. But Reeves really just wants his film to stand on its own, without any potential baggage from the reception to Justice League and Batman V Superman to weigh it down or cause a distraction from his seminal Batman movie.
Well, that’s fair enough. Both Justice League and BvS come with their fair share of baggage and throwing Affleck into Reeves’ film would only have brought some of that into his movie. So, it’s understandable that the director wants a clean slate and though it’s too bad for fans of Batfleck, it’s probably the right decision in the end.
As for who could replace Ben, well, take your pick. Numerous actors have been linked to the role in one way or another over the past few months. In recent memory, various talents such as Kit Harington and Oscar Isaac were said to be considered as Affleck’s successor, but from what we understand, neither panned out. Then, of course, there’s Jon Hamm, who looks like Alex Ross’ Dark Knight brought to life.
Of course, it’s important to note that Warner Bros. hasn’t confirmed this story, so don’t take it as set in stone just yet. Then again, Revenge of the Fans is usually pretty reliable, so we’re inclined to believe that Ben Affleck is indeed done with the role of Batman. And even though that’s probably for the best, as we said above, it’s still a damn shame.
