Despite What He Says, Are Ben Affleck's Days As Batman Numbered?
Greetings nerds!
Per a report from THR, there are inside rumors that Warner Bros. is considering moving on from Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne aka Batman in the DCEU, because it the old bat might be a little long in the tooth to do a trilogy.
“But a source with knowledge of the situation says that the studio is working on plans to usher out Affleck’s Batman — gracefully, addressing the change in some shape or form in one of the upcoming DC films.
Exactly when and how that might happen has yet to be determined, but it would be wise to bet against Affleck starring in The Batman. He has already stepped away from directing the film and Reeves is dropping the script that Affleck wrote with D.C. Entertainment’s Geoff Johns.
Reeves also has acknowledged that he has a Batman trilogy rolling around in his head, and given his success making two-thirds of a trilogy out of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes, it seems fair to anticipate that Warners will want him to realize his vision.”
Well, at the Justice League Panel at SDCC, Affleck addressed these rumors and seemingly assured fans that he indeed would be Batman in the first solo outing for the Dark Knight in the DCEU, Matt Reeves' The Batman.
“I am the luckiest guy in the world. Batman is the coolest [frick]ing part in any universe. DC, Marvel, it’s incredible and I’m so thrilled to do it. I know there’s this misconception because I didn’t direct it, that maybe I wasn’t enthusiastic about it. It’s [frick]ing amazing and I still can’t believe it after two films and having this history with this great studio and Kevin Tsujihara and Sue Kroll and Toby Emmerich have said to me, ‘We want you to be our Batman’ and I believe them. And Matt Reeves doing it, I would be a [frick]ing ape on the ground for Matt Reeves. Nevermind, being Batman. It’s incredible. So, I’m really blown away and excited and it’s a great time in the DC Universe and you’re going to see some stuff from Justice League that I’m really, really proud of. And I think you’ll see why I’m so excited to be Batman.”
Did you notice that not once does he state that he's going to continue to don the cowl after The Batman? Given the announcement the Flash movie will now be called "Flashpoint", I think we can expect a soft-reboot of sorts to the DCEU where they'll try and correct course to continue on the momentum that Wonder Woman built.
Due to a complete re-write, The Batman is now slated for a 2019 release and Flashpoint comes out in 2020, so it's a real convenient place to for WB to simply recast Batman. Flashpoint also allows the studio to cast someone a little closer to the age range of the other members of the Justice League and explain it all away as "timey wimey", and address some of the more glaring holes in the DCEU. Namely the Joker and various members of the Suicide Squad.
A Flashpoint movie that could potentially see Jeffrey Dean Morgan as murder Batman and Lauren Cohan as the Joker, is one I will watch all damn day long. Anyone who has listened to the podcast knows that I've been pining away for Flashpoint ever since the moment they cast Bruce Wayne's parents.
WB, you bring that shit on.
