Two-time Academy Award winner Ben Affleck is very familiar with superhero cinema by this point in his career. Not only did he play the first live-action incarnation of Matt Murdock back in 2003’s Daredevil, but he then went on to don the cape and cowl to become the DCEU’s Caped Crusader in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League and, briefly, Suicide Squad. Then there was his role as real-life actor George Reeves, who played Clark Kent throughout the 1950s on Adventures of Superman, in 2006’s Hollywoodland.
But unfortunately, it looks like Affleck’s work in the superhero genre is at its end. For now, at least. After hanging up the Batsuit a few years back and declining to return for The Batman, the actor has now moved on with his career and though his personal struggles have slowed him down a bit in recent years, he’s starting to hit his stride again.
And while it’s nice to see him back in a good spot, fans are still wondering whether he could ever return as Bruce Wayne one day. Indeed, this very question was recently put to Affleck in an interview when he was asked about the possibility of doing a Dark Knight Returns movie. For those unaware, Returns features an “aging Batman coming out of retirement.” And while he didn’t exactly say that he’d jump at the chance, the actor joked that “maybe a very old Batman would be interesting. With a walker.”
While we’d love to see Ben return as an older Bruce, the chances of it happening are probably pretty slim. Then again, who knows? Stranger things have happened in cinema before and we imagine a lot of fans would be into seeing it.
But for the time being, we’ve got a new Batman to focus on, as Robert Pattinson is currently shooting his first big screen outing as the Caped Crusader, with Matt Reeves’ film now in production ahead of its June 25th, 2021 release. And only then will we be able to see how the former Twilight star stacks up to Affleck in the role.
