Sometimes it feels like we are stuck in ‘Groundhog Day’ when it comes to this particular story, in that it keeps repeating, over and over again, and yet we do not have any sort of closure about it. There has been no official word from Ben Affleck, DC, or Warner Bros, and so it remains a rumor, one that is all too likely to happen, but still just a rumor. But here we go again.
Yet another statement has emerged urging fans to prepare for Ben Affleck to step down as Bruce Wayne aka Batman in the DCEU, as Matt Reeves appears to be casting a Batman in his mid-twenties for his standalone Batman film, and Affleck appears to have no desire to return to the franchise after the critical failures of ‘Justice League’ and ‘Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.’ The latest news on the subject comes to us from Forbes magazine contributor Mark Hughes, who released the statement on his Twitter feed:
Affleck’s not playing Batman in the film & it’s unlikely he’ll appear as Batman again. He’s been on his way out of the DCEU for quite a long while now, and fans need to prepare themselves for a Batman future without him.
— Mark Hughes (@markhughesfilms) July 30, 2018
The only difference in this news is that before there was still hope before that Affleck might appear one last time (for the sake of continuity) in a film like ‘Flashpoint’ to hand off the role, or show how the character becomes “de-aged” or an alternate version of himself or however Warner Bros/DC was going to explain “in-universe” a new actor playing the role. But now that is looking very unlikely, as they might just have a new man behind the cowl and just roll with it, which in the end might just be the best thing to do just to keep the whole cinematic universe moving.
Regardless, one does hope that they just get on with it, get Affleck out of the role and the spotlight and let us just move on with whatever new Batman they get, as it is getting irksome to see this drama continue to play out.
