One of the biggest stories in the movie world in 2017 is undoubtedly the back and forth debacle of whether Ben Affleck will continue playing The Dark Knight. It all started toward the end of last year when rumors surfaced that the Batman film he was writing and planning to direct was a bit of a mess and the public began pestering him about whether he’d stay attached to direct the film.
At the start of 2017, rumors began surfacing that he was indeed going to step away from the director’s chair and maybe even dip out of the role altogether. It was eventually confirmed that Affleck would no longer write or direct The Batman and would be placed by War for the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves but his future in the cape and cowl was still in question.
More rumors began suggesting he was going to bounce toward Comic-Con where he came out and denied that but then once Justice League came out… he sounded far more hesitant to return. The man has had a lot of troubles these last few years with a divorce, suffering from alcoholism, receiving a critical thrashing on movies he directed and starred in, and more. It makes sense why he’d want to step away but we still have no definitive answer.
In a recent interview, Affleck talked about The Batman and how he would still like to direct a Batman film but he was ultimately unhappy with the script that he had produced during the stressful period in his life. He also claims that he will judge his return to the character based on the quality of the script Reeves writes.
“For me, it’s interesting, and I always evaluate this stuff on the merit of the material. I want to direct a “Batman” movie, and I never got a script that I was happy with, so they are starting over and writing another script. And right now, I think a lot of different possibilities I think for the way the DC Universe could go, and I will just follow my interests in pursuing that. And I know that I love working with this group of people, and it was a real joy for me to make [Justice League].
It’s not entirely clear if Affleck is even wanted back for the role. Rumors popped up around the release of Justice League suggesting that Matt Reeves was looking at replacing Affleck with someone like Jake Gyllenhall. This could change of course but right now it seems that Affleck isn’t exactly committed to returning to play The Caped Crusader.
