Earlier this morning, we got confirmation that Ben Affleck’s upcoming solo outing as the Dark Knight is, in fact, titled The Batman. Thankfully, that’s not the only talking point we have been given today regarding that specific film.
During an interview promoting the soon-to-be released movie, The Accountant, Collider couldn’t help but ask why Deathstroke was the right villain to utilize in The Batman and Affleck gave the following response:
“He’s a great villain because—I just had an instinctive feeling that he would match up with him well. You know, I’m a big admirer of that character as well, especially in the New 52 the way that they did Deathstroke, and I thought that it could work.”
First, I’m not one to argue with his reasoning. Deathstroke will undoubtedly serve as both a great intellectual and physical foil for Batman himself. But, seeing as how he’s a mercenary, one can’t help but wonder whether or not another villain will actually be pulling the strings (Jared Leto’s Joker, perhaps?), paying Slade Wilson a healthy sum of cash to take down the Caped Crusader, a la Batman: Arkham Origins.
Also, I must say that I find it quite interesting Affleck referenced Deathstroke in The New 52. In those books – most notably those written and illustrated by Tony Daniel – Slade was a bit more of an anti-hero, as an author must find a way to make readers root for the protagonist. This begs the question as to whether or not we could possibly see a somewhat morally grey Deathstroke on the big screen, similar to how Deadshot was portrayed in Suicide Squad.
As of now, The Batman does not have a concrete release date, but odds are it will arrive on either October 5, 2018 or November 1, 2019, both of which are dates WB has reserved for unnamed DC films.
