Ben Affleck is officially walking away from the role of Batman, per a report from Deadline. It’s been rumored that he was on his way out for a while, so this doesn’t come as a huge surprise. Ever since Justice League underperformed at the box office, Affleck’s future as the Dark Knight has been up in the air.
However, there will still be a Batman movie coming out in 2021: The Batman from by Cloverfield director Matt Reeves, focusing on a younger version of Bruce Wayne. Affleck himself was originally slated to direct the next Batman movie, but, well…
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Affleck has played Batman during the rougher parts of his DCEU journey. His first appearance as the caped vigilante was in the panned Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, followed by the critically reviled Suicide Squad, and then the box office disappoint that was Justice League….and that’s it. It makes sense that Warner Bros. wants to clear the boards.
While Affleck himself did not comment directly on this news, he sort of said goodbye to the role on Twitter:
Excited for #TheBatman in Summer 2021 and to see @MattReevesLA vision come to life. https://t.co/GNgyJroMIO
— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) January 31, 2019
We’ve heard that Henry Cavill may be leaving the role of Superman, too, but at least we have Margot Robbie’s Birds of Prey to look forward to, right? And speaking of Harley Quinn, The Hollywood Reporter has it that James Gunn may direct a “relaunch” of Suicide Squad. Also, Wonder Woman and Aquaman did quite well for Warner Bros., so it may devise a new strategy around those characters. Basically, it’s time to rebuild.
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h/t The AV Club