Old Ben Affleck and Batman haven’t had the best time of things - he’s played the character in three films (Suicide Squad, Batman Vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Justice League) and hey, none of them were that good!
So what is a man to do? Is he to continue playing a character that is met with such scorn when he is involved? Is he to trudge reluctantly on and star in the rumorued solo Batman film, The Batman? IS HE TO RAMBLE DOWN THIS WOODED PATH?
Well, it seems, yes. In a way. Sort of. Essentially, The Batman is still going ahead under the direction of Matt Reeves, and it’s set to shoot in the spring. And guess what? Ben Affleck is on board!
Affleck as Batman in Justice League, alongside Ezra Miller and Gal Gadot
As a producer.
Yeah, according to Production Weekly it’s only been officially announced that he will produce, so it’s still unclear as to whether or not he’ll be greasing up his butt and sliding into the suit - it’s very possible that someone else might take over. Not as the same character, but as a younger heir to the Batman empire, maybe?
Producer is a step-down from the original triumvirate he was representing, when he was set to star, write and direct the film, but it makes sense that after all the work he’s put in, he would at least stay on as producer.
Reeves has said that the script will be turned in in a few weeks, and that it’ll be a noir story focusing on Batters as the world’s greatest detective. The world’s greatest detective that dresses like a bat sometimes. It’s also unclear as to whether it’ll fit in with the current DCEU, or be its own, standalone thing.
We’ll have a while to wait to find out though - there’s no release date set yet, and Warner Bros have to sort out other projects first, like Birds Of Prey, The Flash, Joker and maybe Suicide Squad 2. Good luck Ben Affleck, sorry it didn’t work out for you. As a bat. The being a bat thing didn’t work out.
(Image: Warner Bros)
