Is Ben Affleck done with Batman? That’s the question on every DC film fan’s mind. Just when you think it’s a done deal and Affleck is out, rumors swirl that maybe Warner Bros. is interested in keeping him around. But in this latest episode of “Will Bat-fleck Return?” we find out that he probably won’t be sticking around…at least for Matt Reeves.
In a new report from The Hollywood Reporter, it appears that director Matt Reeves is definitely going in a new direction with the Caped Crusader. As many speculated, Reeves’ version of ‘Batman’ will focus on a younger hero. Apparently, Reeves has just recently turned in a new draft of his script, during Memorial Day weekend, and the story doesn’t feature the older, grisly veteran Batman that Affleck has portrayed in “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Justice League.”
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Does this mean that Affleck is completely done with the character? Who knows? There’s still the outside possibility that he could show up in the main DCEU features. It just appears that Reeves is taking a page from the Chris Nolan handbook and separating his version of Batman from all other continuity. And you can’t really blame him for wanting that. The way Zack Snyder set up the hero in ‘Batman v. Superman’ doesn’t leave much room for another filmmaker to expand on.
As far as possible Affleck appearances go, there’s still the chance he could show up in the “Birds of Prey” film, or perhaps the Jared Leto-led “Joker” spin-off film. It would just be unlikely, at this point, that WB wants to move forward with Affleck in their solo ‘Batman’ films.
There’s still no word on a release date for the first solo ‘Batman.’ However, realistically, it seems like the earliest we’d get the Matt Reeves ‘Batman’ will be 2020.