Summary
- Ben Affleck's Batman movie was cancelled due to a combination of factors, including changes to Justice League and Affleck's dissatisfaction with Warner Bros.' management of the DCEU.
- The film, titled The Batman, would have been an interquel between Justice League and Justice League 2, with Batman battling Slade Wilson (Deathstroke) in a harrowing showdown.
- Affleck's Batman movie would have served as a bridge in the DCEU, with Batman being a key player in the fight against Darkseid and ultimately sacrificing himself in the final battle of Justice League 3.
Ben Affleck's solo Batman movie remains a fascinating chapter of the DCEU, albeit an unmade one. Ben Affleck debuted as Batman in Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and though the film itself saw a very split reception, Affleck's portrayal of the Dark Knight was nonetheless well received. Unfortunately, that divisive reception to Batman v Superman led to Warner Bros. making significant changes to the then-upcoming Justice League, which then played a role in Affleck walking away from his planned Batman movie.
Despite WB's abandonment of Snyder's overarching plan for the DCEU, interest remains high in both his planned Justice League sequels and Affleck's Batman film, with calls of #RestoreTheSnyderVerse remaining a constant of social media. More recently, some new revelations have been made about the story of Affleck's Batman film by storyboard artist Jay Oliva. Combined with the details provided by Oliva, other previously revealed elements offer a big picture of what Affleck was going for. Here is everything that is known about Ben Affleck's unproduced Batman movie and why it did not happen.
Why Ben Affleck's Batman Movie Was Canceled
No single factor is solely behind Affleck's Batman movie not being realized, with numerous factors playing into it at once. Following Zack Snyder's departure from the film due to a family tragedy, the last-minute revamping of Justice League took the movie far off course from the Batman arc that Affleck had signed up for. This included the movie's scene of Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) meeting Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello), which was changed to the two forming the Legion of Doom, as opposed to its original intent of Lex hiring Deathstroke to take out Batman, setting up Affleck's movie (eventually one of many differences seen in the Snyder Cut).
These changes led to Affleck's dissatisfaction with the behind-the-scenes situation of DC's on film management by Warner Bros., and played into him leaving the role. Additionally, Affleck was also dealing with numerous struggles in his personal life at the time, including his battle with alcoholism. All of these factors together ultimately led to Affleck's Batman movie not moving forward.
Timeline Of Events Surrounding Ben Affleck's Batman Movie
Affleck's Batman film came about after he had boarded Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with Affleck intending to make the film after completing work on Justice League. Affleck's script was set to be titled The Batman, with Affleck writing the film with contributions by both Geoff Johns and Chris Terrio. In late 2016, Affleck's language about his Batman film grew noticeably more tentative, Affleck insisting repeatedly that he would not make the film without a script that he was satisfied with.
Affleck then ultimately stepped down from directing The Batman in early 2017, with Matt Reeves coming aboard as director. Around that time was when rumors of Affleck's displeasure with the situation behind-the-scenes began to emerge, along with rumors that Justice League was headed for major reshoots ahead of its November 2017 release. Despite persistent denials of any behind-the-scenes turmoil by WB, Justice League was indeed released as an extensively reworked film that year, which famously led to calls for the Snyder Cut.
What Ben Affleck's Batman Movie Was About
Affleck's Batman movie was intended to act as an interquel between Justice League and Justice League 2, with the Dark Knight battling Slade Wilson in a harrowing showdown. Per Deathstroke actor Joe Manganiello, Affleck's Batman story was influenced by David Fincher's The Game, with Deathstroke methodically taking Bruce Wayne's life apart and killing those closest to him. Batgirl would also be a supporting character and become an ally to Batman in the film. Additionally, Oliva revealed that Affleck's Batman movie was "building off of storylines in the Batman mythos over the last 80 years and approaching it from a new kind of perspective."
Affleck's Batman story also curiously resembles elements of the Daredevil comic book story Born Again, in which Matt Murdock's life is reduced to shambles before he heads into a final showdown with the Kingpin. With Affleck having famously played the Devil of Hell's Kitchen in 2003's Daredevil movie and having expressed his dissatisfaction with the movie, his Batman film might have also been a kind of Daredevil do-over with the Caped Crusader by Affleck. Meanwhile, Affleck's Batman film would have also pitted Bruce Wayne against one of the most challenging enemies he would ever face on the big screen.
Ben Affleck's Batman Movie Villain Explained
Slade Wilson is known as a ruthless and cunning mercenary in DC Comics lore, and has tangled with everyone from the Teen Titans to Green Arrow to Batman himself. In Slade's meeting with Lex in Zack Snyder's Justice League, he speaks of a "personal" vendetta with Batman before learning that he is Bruce Way from Lex. Per Manganiello, Slade's anger towards Batman would stem from an unrevealed incident in their past, in which Slade's son was killed with Slade blaming Batman for his loss.
Manganiello's revelation that Slade would be "like a horror movie villain" killing those closest to Bruce Wayne also suggests that Bruce's butler Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons) and Commissioner James Gordon (J.K. Simmons) as likely candidates to be killed by Slade in Affleck's script. With the help of Batgirl, Batman would overcome Deathstroke in a showdown that went much harder than Batman's battle with Superman. Meanwhile, the Knightmare epilogue of Zack Snyder's Justice League also indicated that he did not kill Slade. This also sheds more light on the place of Affleck's Batman film in the DCEU.
How Affleck's Batman Movie Would've Fit Into The DCEU Plan
Zack Snyder's roadmap for the DCEU would have used his planned five movie arc - consisting of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and a trilogy of Justice League films - as its foundation, while also including solo movie spin-offs like Wonder Woman. In the case of Affleck's Batman, he was set up with a specific arc in mind of Bruce Wayne as a grizzled, jaded crimefighter going over the edge before being brought back by Henry Cavill's Superman. After forming the Justice League, Affleck's Batman would then be a key player in the fight against Darkseid (Ray Porter), with Batman sacrificing himself in the final battle of Justice League 3.
Affleck's Batman movie would have served as a bridge after his redemption in Batman v Superman and Zack Snyder's Justice League, with Bruce pushed to his absolute limits by Slade and tested like never before. In the Knightmare epilogue of the Snyder Cut, Batman and Deathstroke have joined forces with the surviving members of the Justice League and the Joker (Jared Leto) to send The Flash (Ezra Miller) back in time to prevent Darkseid's conquest of Earth. This indicates that despite seemingly losing everything and everyone he still held dear, Batman would remain the hero that Superman had re-awakened at the end of Batman v Superman.
Was Ben Affleck Supposed To Be In Matt Reeves' The Batman?
Despite Affleck's decision to walk away from Batman, neither he nor Warner Bros. made his departure from the role official until early 2019. Affleck's later comments on how disillusioned he had become with WB's reworking of Justice League make clear that he was never going to be in Matt Reeves version of The Batman. With that said, Affleck would later return to the role multiple times, including for additional filming on the Snyder Cut, his role in The Flash, which Affleck cited as the point where "I finally figured out how to play the guy", and Aquaman & the Lost Kingdom (though his cameo has since reportedly been cut.)
Moreover, the version of The Batman that Matt Reeves eventually released very clearly never had Affleck's Batman as its intended lead. Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne is still in his second year as the Caped Crusader in the movie, while The Batman also takes place in a completely different universe from the DCEU. In all, it is quite evident that once Reeves took over as The Batman's director, Affleck's involvement as director, writer, and star were all at an end.
Since the release of the Snyder Cut, the talk of what Snyder and Affleck intended with their respective movies in the DCEU has been a shadow that DC's cinematic plamns have been unable to move out from under, especially with the periodic revelations of the grandiose stories each had in mind. In the end, the exceptionally unique circumstances of the SnyderVerse are a major factor in why curiosity remains so high for the franchise's unmade movies to be realized. Still, even as an unmade film, Ben Affleck's Batman movie looks to have been one of the Dark Knight's greatest big-screen battles indeed.
