Usually with Hollywood rumors, it’s best to take them with a grain of salt. Most of it amounts to idle chitchat but it seems that if a rumor just won’t die, a lot of times there’s some substance behind it and that seems to be the case with the persistent buzz that Ben Affleck‘s tenure as Batman in the DCEU may be coming to an end. At one point, Affleck wasn’t just cast as the new Dark Knight, but was slated to direct his own solo movie, ‘The Batman’. Things were moving full-speed ahead, with Affleck even sharing a video of Joe Manganiello dressed as the film’s villain, Deathstroke the Terminator. Then things backstage went awry with Affleck stepping down as director, but still attached to star.
But rumors have persisted that Affleck is increasingly unhappy with Warner Brothers and wants to quit the DCEU entirely. It can’t have helped that ‘Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice’ was so universally despised by fans and critics, resulting in the “sad Affleck” viral meme. But with ‘Wonder Woman’, things started to turn around. Affleck is one of the main characters in ‘Justice League’. It will be Sunday at the earliest before we discover how that does, but unfortunately, critical reaction so far has only been tepid at best– 43% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Now comes word that ‘The Batman’ director Matt Reeves already has his eye on an actor to replace Affleck, should he decide not to do the solo film. It wasn’t revealed WHO this actor is but Youtuber John Campea said:
“I’m hesitant to say anything, but I talked to a Hollywood producer yesterday and they gave me the name of who Matt Reeves wants [to replace Affleck] as Batman. And, I’ve got to be honest with you, that name caught me a little bit by surprise. I called somebody else later in the day, saying ‘hey, I heard this, is there any validity to this?’ And they said ‘well, Matt does want him.’ But, that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. There’s been no movement or anything like that.”
I’d LOVE to know who Reeves has his eye on, but there’s no point when it may never lead to anything. If ‘Justice League’ does well, that could do volumes to convince Affleck to carry on as the Caped Crusader.
Should it come down to a recast, Campea said that it will most likely go unacknowledged from a story standpoint. “I think it’s going to be a pure recast. I don’t think they’re going to do anything terribly convoluted with Flashpoint.” This means that like Val Kilmer and George Clooney, this new actor will simply slip into the same role, not as someone else taking over as Batman.
What do you think? Would you like to see more of Affleck in the role? Or would you like to see how someone else handles the cowl.
