Back in the good old days when Ben Affleck was writing, directing and starring in ‘The Batman’ stand alone movie for the DCEU, apparently there was a film that greatly inspired the script he was working on for that project. Accordingly to The Wrap’s Umberto Gonzales, who Tweeted the information earlier this week, Affleck’s script was heavily influenced by the 1990s movie ‘The Game,’ and the report gained a lot of momentum when Joe Manganiello (who was set to play Deathstroke if Affleck had continued as director) liked it on Twitter. Check it out for yourself below:

For those not in the know, ‘The Game’ was a film released in 1997 by David Fincher, starring Michael Douglas and Sean Penn, about a wealthy investment banker tricked into playing games that start to mess with his life. When the games begin to get bigger and bigger to the point where they start intersecting more and more with his real life, he begins to realize the size of the conspiracy unfolding around him.

There’s nothing to lead us to believe that the suspenseful thriller was completely thrown out when Reeves took over ‘The Batman,’ especially since he has talked about how he wanted to make a different kind of Dark Knight film, with more of a noir tone, which a ‘The Game’ based script would definitely lend itself toward. Plus, let’s not forget what Reeves told New Trailer Buzz when speaking about the feel he wants to the bring the film:

“There’s a chance to do an almost noir-driven, detective version of Batman that is point-of-view driven in a very very powerful way, that will hopefully connect you to what’s going on inside of his head.”

Either way, it does make me a little sad to think about what Affleck could have done with the concept, especially with Deathstroke involved, but that sadness could be helped if Reeves keeps this idea going, and does end up using Manganiello as Deathstroke as well, though those chances seem slimmer with each passing week.

What do you think of ‘The Batman’ movie having some plot inspiration from ‘The Game?’ Do you think Reeves could pull it off? Do you think Affleck would have been able to do it? Or could this have been what made his screenwriting work on the film so difficult? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!