The Flash Director Andy Muschietti Confirms Ben Affleck And Michael Keaton Will Play Their Batman Characters In The Flash Film
Ben Affleck will be returning as Batman alongside Michael Keaton’s version of Batman for the upcoming The Flash film, which will explore the DC multiverse.
The news was broken by Anthony Breznican at Vanity Fair, who writes, “The Argo director’s brooding Dark Knight is coming back for one more movie, with Affleck agreeing to return as Bruce Wayne in the upcoming big-screen version of The Flash.”
The Flash director Andy Muschietti would confirm Affleck’s appearance telling Vanity Fair, “His Batman has a dichotomy that is very strong, which is his masculinity—because of the way he looks, and the imposing figure that he has, and his jawline —but he’s also very vulnerable.”
Muschietti added, “He knows how to deliver from the inside out, that vulnerability. He just needs a story that allows him to bring that contrast, that balance.”
If there was still any doubt, Muschietti stated, “He’s a very substantial part of the emotional impact of the movie. The interaction and relationship between Barry and Affleck’s Wayne will bring an emotional level that we haven’t seen before.”
“It’s Barry’s movie, it’s Barry’s story, but their characters are more related than we think. They both lost their mothers to murder, and that’s one of the emotional vessels of the movie. That’s where the Affleck Batman kicks in,” he continued.
He then added, “I’m glad to be collaborating with someone who has been on both sides of the camera, too. He understands.”
While Affleck bowed out of his Batman solo project and the role entirely in February 2019, rumors began swirling that he would be making his return to the role in May and began picking up steam in July.
Related: Rumor: Ben Affleck To Return To Batman For Showdown With Deathstroke
The Cultured Nerd first reported in late May that Affleck would return to the role of Batman and complete his Batman solo film where he was expected to face off against Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke.
The Cultured Nerd reported, “Sources close to TCN have informed us that AT&T and WarnerMedia wants Ben Affleck to return as Batman, and also to resume work to adapt his original script for “The Batman” that originally featured Batman Vs Deathstroke.”
In July, Taylor Murphy of The Cultured Nerd would claim that Affleck signed the deal to return to Batman. He even went on to claim they wanted Keaton to return as well.
Related: Rumor: Ben Affleck’s Return to Batman is Imminent with Contract in Hand
“They are bringing everybody back,” he said. ““This is planned… This is a design because of Zack. This is a plan that they’re moving forward with. I mean, I keep saying it is a great time to be a DC fan.”
He then added, “Ben has indeed signed a new contract and he is coming back. The official announcement is expected to happen either at DC FanDome or during JusticeCon. Ben has indeed signed a new contract and he is coming back. The official announcement is expected to happen either at DC FanDome or during JusticeCon.”
Murphy’s scoop would be echoed by fellow scooper Mikey Sutton. A Sutton scoop shared on the Pop Culture Minefield YouTube channel detailed that Affleck would return to the role of Batman and face off against Deathstroke in a solo Batman film.
Vanity Fair would go on to confirm that the film will also feature Michael Keaton’s Batman from the 1989 Tim Burton film. Muschietti told them that Keaton’s Batman has a “substantial” part in the film.
Not only does the report detail that Affleck and Keaton will return for The Flash, but it also provides some details on that film claiming that it will see Barry Allen, played by Ezra Miller “breaking the bonds of physics to crash into various parallel dimensions, where he’ll encounter slightly different versions of DC’s classic heroes.”
Keaton was previously rumored to star in The Flash film back in June. The rumor came from TheWrap who detailed at the time, “After nearly 30 years, Michael Keaton is in talks to return to the role of Batman.”
However, they did not have any details on what Keaton’s role for the film will be.
Related: Rumor: Michael Keaton’s Talks Include More Than One DC Movie; Batman Beyond Could Be One
A scoop from Mikey Sutton and published through the Midnight’s Edge YouTube channel in June detailed that Keaton might not just be appearing in The Flash film, but could also be slated for a possible live-action Batman Beyond film as well.
As for what we can expect from The Film, Vanity Fair’s description of The Flash crashing through multiple parallel dimensions is probably the most detailed information we’ve seen yet.
Muschietti did previously state that the film would be based of the Flashpoint storyline, but he stated it would be a “different version of Flashpoint than you’re expecting.”
Maybe the most interesting part of all these rumors especially the ones concerning Affleck’s Batman facing off against Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke is that Manganiello hinted in December that he might be appearing in the upcoming Flash film in a photo alongisde Aquaman actor Jason Momoa and Anthrax’s Scott Ian.
Manganiello would eventually remove the flashpoint hashtag from the post, but here’s a screenshot of the post before it was removed.
It could be possible these rumors regarding Affleck’s Batman vs Manganiello’s Deathstroke could be referring to The Flash movie. It’s also quite possible Affleck’s presence in The Flash film could lead to him doing his own solo movie as he was expected to do before he exited the project.
What do you make of this news that Affleck and Keaton are returning to their roles as Batman?
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