Why Is Ben Affleck Not Credited as Batman in Suicide Squad?

Suicide Squad has built a lot of hype thanks to an all-star cast playing some pretty iconic DC Comics characters, such as Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), Deadshot (Will Smith), The Joker (Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). There are also some anticipated superhero cameos in the film, including Batman and a recently-revealed second Justice League character appearance (Click Here to find out who it is…).

And yet, even though we’ve seen plenty of Suicide Squad Trailer and TV Spots that openly reveal the appearance of Batman in the film, there’s been a curious development: according to the Warner Bros. media kit, Ben Affleck isn’t credited with an appearance in Suicide Squad.

Warner Bros. has put out the media kit for Suicide Squad in advance of the film’s upcoming premiere and press screenings – and sure enough, Affleck’s name is nowhere on the extensive casting list. Going back to last year, it was reported by several outlets that Ben Affleck had arrived in Toronto where Suicide Squad was filming (confirmed), and that a Twitter user (whose post has now vanished) had spotted Affleck in costume on the Suicide Squad set.

That latter part is what raises confusion about Affleck’s name not being on the media kit; but with that so-called confirmation tweet now gone, it seems like pretty strong evidence that the Internet got it wrong (Correction: Director David Ayer previously confirmed Affleck being on set, but admitted that he was only there one day, and that Ayer forced him (seemingly unexpectedly) to suit up). Batman may be in Suicide Squad, yes, but it could very well be a stuntman in the suit the majority of the time, during the Joker/Harley chase sequence we’ve seen, possibly other scenes, taking down villains like Deadshot or Killer Croc.

One could argue that the media kit didn’t want to spoil a potential surprise – or that Affleck simply appeared in the film uncredited, but those are much more unlikely scenarios. A brief Batman stuntman cameo being promoted in the marketing as a bigger deal than it actually is in the film? Yeah, that seems much more Hollywood.

NEXT: 2nd Justice League Character to Appear in Suicide Squad (SPOILER!)

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Suicide Squad is hits theaters on August 5, 2016; Wonder Woman follows on June 2, 2017; followed by Justice League on November 17, 2017; Aquaman on July 27, 2018; Justice League 2 on June 14, 2019; Cyborg on April 3, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps on July 24, 2020. The Flash is currently without release date.