Kevin Smith Thinks Ben Affleck May Return to Batman for The Dark Knight Returns in the Future

Will we ever see Ben Affleck as Batman again? His buddy Kevin Smith thinks so. Smith addressed the topic of Ben Affleck’s Batman career in the recent episode of his Fatman Beyond podcast, which reviewed DC’s The Flash. It’s no secret that The Flash movie ended Batfleck’s run, as Barry Allen’s disruption of the DC timeline resulted in George Clooney becoming the new Batman of the restored DCEU, instead of Affleck. 

Fans of Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman and Justice League have been up in arms about the fact that The Flash is ending Affleck’s time as Batman, as the “#RestoreTheSnyderVerse” movement on social media has never stopped. Fans of the SnyderVerse have been looking for ways to keep that version of the DC Multiverse alive; popular suggestions include the darker future DC Superheroes end up in during the “Kingdom Come” miniseries event, or having Snyder’s actors play older versions of themselves in stories like Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. 

“Seeing Ben as Batfleck again was joyous – not only as Batfleck but as Bruce Wayne,” Smith said during his podcast. “He said in a few interviews, he was like ‘Look man, I just figured out how to play this character and that character and now it’s all coming to an end. It’s kind of bittersweet. But he got that bit at the apple before it was all done because he said many times he’s never going to go back to Batman. You know, there’s a multiverse so we’ll see if that f*****g happens. You know, I could see a world where ten years from now, after he’s lived a bunch of other life and done other things…”

“I know Ben loves The Dark Knight Returns in a big bad way,” Smith continued. “Like most of us do, but like… all through [filming] Chasing Amy he read that on the floor of my condo; he slept on the couch and s**t. And he was always like ‘Why can’t somebody do this as a f*****g movie? And you know, when Zack [Snyder] did BvS, he got damn close: he got to wear the outfit [Bat-Armor] and s**t, there were elements of Dark Knight Returns… So I can’t imagine if somebody backed up a money truck ten years from now, and said to a f*****g nearly sixty-year-old Ben Affleck ‘Do you want to do The Dark Knight Returns?’ He might say ‘Yeah,’ and that would be glorious. But for right now he had to put the cowl away, and he seems to have had a good time doing it.”

Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns has helped shape virtually every onscreen version of Batman that has come since its release in 1986. The story got a two-part animated adaptation in 2012-2013, but an epic live-action movie (or two) has been on DC fans’ list for decades. If it finally happens, Ben Affleck’s Batman would be the fan-favorite pick, by far. 

The Flash is now in theaters.