Warner Bros. To "Usher Out" Ben Affleck's BATMAN As Studio Looks To Take The Dark Knight In A New Direction
Bad news ahead of Warner Bros.' Comic-Con panel as the studio is reportedly mulling over ideas to phase Ben Affleck's Batman out of the DC Extended Universe and take the Caped Crusader down a new route.
For the past few Comic-Cons, we've all waited for an announcement to come in regards to Ben Affleck's Batman movie. Sadly, it never did, and over the past twelve months, the project has fallen apart with the actor dropping out of directing duties and new helmer Matt Reeves ditching his and Geoff Johns' script to start over. We've also been faced with constant doubt he'll actually suit up as Batman.
Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter, he won't be. Despite Warner Bros. film chief Toby Emmerich telling the trade "Ben is our Batman. We love him as Batman. We want to keep him in the cowl as long as we can," they've spoken with sources close to the situation that tell them the studio is currently working on plans to gracefully usher out the actor's Caped Crusader in a future DC movie.
That could mean he's being killed off or will pass the cape and cowl down to a character like Nightwing; we just don't know right now. The trade doesn't believe Affleck will star in The Batman and that he could be too old to stick around for the trilogy Reeves is envisioning. They also don't believe that we'll see Affleck remain in Justice League while a different actor takes over the character's solo franchise.
The trade's sources do point out that there's precedent for different heroes to suit up as Batman but will Reeves want to direct that movie and will audiences be interested in seeing it? That remains to be seen and it's unclear why Affleck is departing the role. The response to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice likely played a part in it and it could just be a case of creative differences with the studio.