Why Ben Affleck’s Batman Movie Never Got Made (When It Definitely Should’ve Been)

Like a direct solo sequel to 2013’s Man of Steel, a Ben Affleck solo Batman movie was a planned part of the DCEU that never came to fruition. Instead, we got him in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a cameo in Suicide Squad, Justice League, and, after some time away from the cape and cowl, another cameo in The Flash. So, when would the Affleck version of The Batman (as it was set to be titled) have been released? Sometime between Justice League and The Flash. Specifically, in December 2016, the project was on track to begin filming in mid-2017 with a 2018 release date in mind.

The production of a second Justice League film was even pushed to accommodate The Batman. But like with that Justice League sequel, cameras never started rolling on Affleck’s solo vehicle, due in no small part to the failure of the 2017 Zack Snyder/Joss Whedon film.

Who Would Have Written & Directed Affleck’s The Batman?

Affleck’s The Batman was first announced in October 2014, about 14 months after Affleck was first cast as the DCEU’s Bruce Wayne. Furthermore, by mid-2015, Affleck was also confirmed to be in negotiations to serve as director and the co-screenwriter alongside DC Films co-founder Geoff Johns. The film was to be Affleck’s next after he was done directing, writing, and starring in Live by Night (which hit theaters in December 2016). And, by March 2016, Affleck and Johns had finished the first draft of their script.

Affleck’s role as director was officially announced by Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara in April 2016 at CinemaCon. The following month, Jeremy Irons confirmed he would reprise his role of Alfred Pennyworth and, in September, Joe Manganiello was cast for the role of Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke.

Chris Terrio (the writer of Affleck’s Argo) completed a new draft of the script in January 2017, but that’s not all that happened to The Batman that month. This is when Affleck backed away from the director’s chair, though he did make the announcement that he still intended to star in and produce the film. At first, he claimed this was because he wanted to focus on his acting as the title character, but in time, he revised the reasoning for his trepidation, saying the script wasn’t where he wanted it to be and that he wouldn’t have enjoyed directing it, feeling the final product would benefit from being directed by someone who would enjoy the gig.

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Furthermore, the softer-than-expected commercial reception of Batman v Superman had shaken Warner Bros. executives’ confidence in the DCEU, as well. This led to them pumping the breaks on The Batman to a certain extent.

In fact, one can see how they were changing gears when watching the two versions of Justice League. When Snyder shot the Deathstroke Justice League scene, it more directly led into the narrative of The Batman (more on that in a bit). In the theatrical version, viewers instead see an altered version of that scene which instead leads into the Justice League sequel, teasing the introduction of the Injustice League.

One month after Affleck stated he would no longer be directing the film, Matt Reeves entered talks to take over. After a month of working on the film, Reeves then decided that the Affleck-starring version of the movie was not the one he wanted to make.

What Would Affleck’s The Batman Have Been About?

The narrative of Affleck’s solo Batman movie was always going to take place after Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, and Justice League. It was similar to Snyder’s Batman v Superman in that it was inspired by certain Batman stories but didn’t go so far as to directly adapt them the way he did with Watchmen and 300. There were three primary inspirations for the script, the “Knightfall” storyline from the early ’90s (which is where Bane broke Batman’s back), Grant Morrison’s grim Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, and the terrific videogame Batman: Arkham Asylum.

While the narrative wouldn’t have featured Bane, it very much would have included Arkham Asylum. Instead, Deathstroke would have served as the film’s primary antagonist, with Arkham prisoners as the side villains.

Basically, Deathstroke would break all the criminals out of Arkham to keep Batman busy and wear him down. Then, finally, once Batman was all tuckered out, Deathstroke would go for him himself. Why would Deathstroke go through all this trouble? Because he had come to believe that Batman was the one behind his son’s death.

Batgirl also would have appeared in the film to assist Batman, though considering Leslie Grace wasn’t cast for the cancelled Batgirl film until July 2021, it would have been someone else in the role. Another presence in the film would have been Robin, but only as a hurtful memory in Bruce Wayne’s mind, not unlike in Batman v Superman.

In short, like many plans for the DCEU, Affleck’s The Batman just never came to pass though it did come very, very close. Things look fairly bright for James Gunn’s DCU, so here’s hoping the revised universe has better luck getting projects completed and on screens.