Report: Ben Affleck To Appear in Justice League Sequel as Batman
While Ben Affleck, won’t appear as Batman in the upcoming Matt Reeves The Batman movie, a new report hints that Affleck could reprise the role in the Justice League sequel.
Buried within a spotlight piece on Variety regarding Affleck, Daniel Nissen writes, “Affleck will be portray the Dark Knight once again in the announced Justice League sequel.” (sp?)
It’s more than likely this is just a slip up on Variety’s part as Ben Affleck made it clear he wasn’t playing Batman again during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
Affleck specifically told Kimmel, “I’m not Batman.” This came after he revealed he couldn’t crack a solo Batman film as director.
However, given recent rumors surrounding Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which indicate the film will take place in the 90s, it would leave open the opportunity for Affleck to reprise his role if he ever does decide to return.
Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment have made it clear they don’t plan on focusing on a connected universe in the near future.
Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich told The Hollywood Reporter, “We all feel like we’ve turned a corner now. We’re playing by the DC playbook, which is very different than the Marvel playbook. We are far less focused on a shared universe. We take it one movie at a time.” He added, “Each movie is its own equation and own creative entity. If you had to say one thing about us, it’s that it always has to be about the directors.”
Former Warner Bros. CEO-Chairman Kevin Tsujihara echoed Emmerich’s statements telling the LA Times,”The universe isn’t as connected as we thought it was going to be five years ago. You’re seeing much more focus on individual experiences around individual characters.”
Tsujihara did leave open the idea of a shared universe further down the road, “That’s not to say we won’t at some point come back to that notion of a more connected universe. But it feels like that’s the right strategy for us right now.”
In fact, producer Peter Safran recently indicated James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad film will be a “total reboot.”
Wonder Woman 1984 producer Charles Roven also revealed that the movie will not be a direct sequel to the first Wonder Woman movie.
“[Patty] was just determined that this movie should be the next iteration of Wonder Woman, but not a sequel.” He added, “And she’s definitely delivering on that. It’s a completely different time frame and you’ll get a sense of what Diana-slash-Wonder Woman had been doing in the intervening years. But it’s a completely different story that we’re telling. Even though it’ll have a lot of the same emotional things, a lot of humor, a lot of brave action. [It] tugs at the heart strings as well.”
Roven would declare, “It’s a standalone film in the same way that Indiana Jones or [James] Bond films are, instead of one continuous story that requires many installments.”
That’s an interesting way of looking at. One could argue the most recent James Bond films with Daniel Craig are actually all interconnected in the same universe. And the Indiana Jones movies are also chronological and operate within the same world.
My opinion is that Affleck is out at Batman and DC won’t be looking to make a Justice League sequel for some time. If they do make another Justice League movie, it won’t be a direct sequel to the first one, and will more than likely have a number of different actors playing the the members of the Justice League.
Shazam! will be joining the DC movie pantheon this April, and there are rumors of a Hawkman movie. Plus Geoff Johns is working on a Green Lantern movie.
What do you make of this new report that Affleck will reprise his role as Batman in a Justice League sequel? Do you think it’s Daniel Nissen being misinformed or does he have some inside scoop?
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