Rumors of Ben Affleck leaving the DCEU have been rampant lately, and the actor’s reps decided to clear those up.
For context, rumors flared up again after Ben Affleck’s brother Casey Affleck spoke with the Dale & Holley with Keefe radio show. He said Ben “was an okay Batman. No, I thought he was great. He was great. He’s a hero, so he had something to channel and work with there. But he’s not going to do [The Batman], I don’t think. Sorry to say. … Is that breaking news? Because I was just kind of making that up, I don’t know.”
Videos by ComicBook.com
It didn’t take long for that to make the rounds though, which prompted Casey’s rep to clear up his client’s meaning (via Buzzfeed). “He was having fun with the folks at the Red Sox game — where he threw out the first pitch in support of the Jimmy Fund — and not speaking from a place of firsthand knowledge.”
Ben Affleck’s rep also commented on the surge of rumors involving his involvement with the Batman role. These pick up steam right after Affleck stepped out of the Director’s role for the solo Batman film, but Affleck has previously said he’s excited to work with new director Matt Reeves.
Ben’s rep said that nothing has changed, and that “he’ll continue to be Batman as long as the studio will have him.”
Affleck addressed this head-on at Comic-Con, saying “Let me be very clear, I am the luckiest guy in the world,” Affleck told the packed room. “Batman is the coolest fucking part in any universe. I am so thrilled to do it.”
Since then he’s also spoken about Batman’s change in tone from BVS, telling fans of the comics that they can look forward to a more classic approach in Justice League.
“BvS departed a little bit from the traditional Batman,” said Affleck. “He started out with all this rage directed at Superman, because of his coworkers who had died in the fight Superman had with Zod. He was holding on to a lot of anger, in a little bit of an irrational way. Whereas this is a much more traditional Batman. He’s heroic. He does things in his own way, but he wants to save people, help people.”
Justice League currently enjoys a 4.19 out of 5 on ComicBook.com’s anticipation rankings, and you can submit your vote here.
Justice League hits theaters on November 17, 2017.
