Even before Ben Affleck officially signed on the dotted line to return as the DCEU’s Batman in The Flash, rumors had been swirling for months about an imminent comeback. It was the actor’s personal troubles that caused him to retire from the role in the first place rather than any professional issues with playing the character, and he never really got a genuine opportunity to show what he could bring to the part besides an encouraging introduction in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice that eventually became lost in the muddled story.
Affleck was also just one of the many stars that suffered from the painfully obvious Justice League reshoots, and in several scenes in the movie you could tell that his heart wasn’t really in it. Of course, the 48 year-old will be looking to put things right when he suits up in the Scarlet Speedster’s solo debut, although there’s still been speculation that his Dark Knight could be set to go out in a blaze of glory.
In any case, the two-time Academy Award winner is already on track to break a Batman record when he becomes the first actor to play the Caped Crusader in a live-action movie for the fourth time, and a new report now claims that he’s going to stick around a whole lot longer. According to The Cultured Nerd, the actor has agreed to headline a Batman series on HBO Max, as well as inking a deal to return for multiple future big screen projects.
“Our sources have now confirmed Affleck intends to continue his role as the Dark Knight, as he has signed on to appear in an undisclosed amount of films featuring his version of Batman,” writes the outlet. “It remains to be seen which films these are exactly. We can also confirm part of this signing includes the proposed HBO Max project.”
While this has yet to be confirmed, Warner Bros.’ streaming service has already made it clear that the DCEU is going to play a massive part in the lineup of in-house content, and as far as the ability to generate buzz worthy of drawing in extra subscribers goes, it wouldn’t come much bigger than having Affleck’s Batman front and center in several exclusives.
