A recent article from Variety talks about some major changes coming to the DC Comics films. You can read the whole article to get all the information but I’ll just be focusing on the news about Ben Affleck. According to the article:
While Ben Affleck is expected to appear as Batman in a standalone Flash movie, it is highly unlikely he will don the cape and cowl in Matt Reeves’ planned standalone Batman movie. The director is said to want to cast the role with fresh talent, according to sources.
Those who aren’t as familiar with the DC comics might be wondering why Affleck would make his final appearance in the upcoming ‘Flashpoint’. If you want a full breakdown, here is the Wikipedia entry for the Flashpoint comic story arc, but here is a brief rundown.
Barry Allen wakes up to realize he is in an alternate timeline. There are major differences, including Barry not being the Flash nor having his powers; his mother is alive and his father, rather than being in prison, died of a heart attack; Aquaman and Wonder Woman are presented as villains. The story revolves around Barry discovering all the differences in this timeline and attempting to get back the original timeline. Another big one, and this is where Affleck comes in, is Thomas Wayne, not Bruce, is Batman.
It still isn’t clear exactly how closely the ‘Flashpoint’ movie will match the comics, but it leaves open some interesting possibilities for how DC and Warner Bros can effectively move Affleck out of the Batman role. At the end of the movie, it is very possible, likely even, that there will be some unintended consequences from fixing the timeline. One could be that Thomas Wayne remains Batman. Or when they return to the normal timeline, Bruce Wayne is only relatively new as Batman, rather than being Affleck’s seasoned Caped Crusader. One of these two would seem to be the easiest routes to take. But I’m sure they are exploring all options here. Batman is such a huge part of all things DC, they need to do everything they can to get it right, especially considering all the troubles DC has had with their movies so far. With the exception of Wonder Woman, all movies of the DCEU have been met with middling reviews at best. Messing up this Batman transition could conceivably kill the extended universe. The solo movies could continue, but they may be better off forgetting about making them all interconnected. As someone who wants so badly for DC to start matching what Marvel is doing, nothing would please me more than seeing the new Batman, whoever it ends up being, revitalizing the DCEU.
