A couple of days ago, Academy Award winning actor and Boston native Casey Affleck appeared on a WEEI Sports talk show and was asked about his older brother Ben’s continued involvement in Warner Brothers’ DC Extended Universe. Ben’s casting as Bruce Wayne/Batman was controversial, to say the least, but he seemed to win over fans and it was announced that he would both star in and direct a solo movie entitled ‘The Batman’. But things seemed to hit a snag and he dropped out of directing and doubts started to surface as to whether he would even return to play the character after ‘Justice League’.
On the show, Casey responded:
“I thought he was an OK Batman. No, I thought he was great. He was great. He’s a hero, so he had something to channel and work with there. But he’s not going to do that movie, I don’t think. Sorry to say. Is that breaking news? Because I was just kind of making that up, I don’t know.”
His last line, “Because I was just kind of making that up, I don’t know” made some think he was backpedaling after accidentally revealing something he shouldn’t have.
Naturally, reps for both Afflecks were quick to attempt to soothe fans’ fears.
Casey’s rep declared:
“He was having fun with the folks at the Red Sox game and not speaking from a place of firsthand knowledge.”
Meanwhile, Ben’s rep maintained:
“He’ll continue to be Batman as long as the studio will have him.”
Back when ‘Batman V Superman’ was released and pretty much universally reviled, it seems that Ben was genuinely shocked and hurt by the reaction (remember the Sad Affleck meme that went viral?), especially since he had helped 
retool the script while on set. Ben has earned major respect for both acting and directing in some of the most lauded movies in the last several years, including the Best Picture of the Year Academy Award for ‘Argo’ in 2012. While, most hated ‘Batman V Superman’ as a film, very little of the criticism was directed at Affleck personally.
Of course, the DCEU is in a state of flux right now. Movies keep getting shuffled around. ‘The Flash’ has been completely retooled as ‘Flashpoint’ but now has no release date. Ray Fisher’s Cyborg was supposed to appear in ‘The Flash’ in order to beef up his role before his solo film in 2020, which appears to still be on track. Dwayne Johnson was attached as Black Adam to ‘Shazam!’ (still due in 2019), but now he will instead get his own movie, but that is also unscheduled, as are the ‘Man of Steel’ sequel, ‘Gotham City Sirens’ starring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, a Joss Whedon-helmed ‘Batgirl’ movie, ‘Justice League Dark’ and ‘Nightwing’ among many others.
The constant shuffling and mixed information coming out makes it impossible to know for sure if Ben Affleck will be back after ‘Justice League’.
Would you like to see more of Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman? If not, what should Warner Brothers do? Recast?
Source: Comic Book Movie
