It may never make it to the big screen, but thanks to story leaks a fair bit is known about what Ben Affleck's abandoned Batman movie would have been. Affleck's time as the Caped Crusader has certainly been a rollercoaster, going from a huge fan backlash to his casting to many coming to regard him as the best version of the character after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice amid the film's polarized reception. Though Affleck had a solo Batman film in the works, he ended up stepping down from directing duties, and later left the DC Extended Universe altogether in 2019, the theatrical demise of Justice League occurring between the two.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves subsequently stepped in to helm The Batman, casting Robert Pattinson as his Bruce Wayne, and establishing the film as its own distinct continuity outside of the DCEU. Though Affleck had seemingly shut the door on his days in Gotham City, his departure was later followed by the announcement that the Justice League Snyder Cut will debut on HBO Max in 2021. A few months later, Affleck officially signed on to return as Batman in Andy Muschietti's The Flash, which will also feature Michael Keaton appearing as his version of Batman, thanks to the film's Multiverse plot elements.
Though much of Affleck's early time as Batman was plagued by behind-the-scenes issues, his return in both the Snyder Cut and The Flash has excited many fans enamored with his portrayal, and thanks to DC's new Multiverse strategy, his return doesn't undermine what Matt Reeves has planned for The Batman. With all of that said, many are still profoundly curious about what Affleck had planned for his solo Batman movie, and some details have managed to slip out into the public about what it was shaping up to be.
Cinematographer Robert Richardson was attached as director of photography for Affleck's Batman movie, and he revealed in an interview with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that the movie was taking of a dive into "insanity aspects". As it turns, this would been quite literal, with Richardson explaining that the movie would have involved Arkham Asylum and "the darker side of Batman". Considering how far gone Bruce Wayne was in Batman v Superman and the redemption he was to experience (and now will) in the Snyder Cut, it's hard to fully gauge how Affleck's movie would have plunged into Batman's dark side, though going a bit more into the past of Affleck's Bruce Wayne could be part of it. At the same time, the Arkham Asylum reveal has a little more meat to it.
Though Arkham has been a part of previous Batman movies, particularly Batman Begins, it's never really been a centralized setting in the way the Richardson's description makes it sound. With Arkham notoriously housing the worst criminal elements of Gotham City, it is well-known as the basis of the highly popular Batman: Arkham video game franchise, so it's possible that Affleck may have drawn some inspiration from there. The involvement of Arkham might also point to some classic Batman villains possibly making appearances. However, the main villain was always Deathstroke.
Among the cast members to return for some additional filming on the Snyder Cut, Joe Manganiello has share quite a bit on both the unrealized Deathstroke solo movie (which he still hopes will come to fruition after the Snyder Cut) and Affleck's Batman film. Speaking to Yahoo, Manganiello described the movie as "a really dark story" and said that it involved Slade Wilson "dismantling Bruce's life from the inside out". Manganiello further revealed that Slade "killed everyone close to Bruce and destroyed his life," blaming him for a misfortune. Clearly, Affleck intended to challenge Batman in a way that he'd never been before on film, while Manganiello's description of Deathstroke killing those dearest to Bruce may be more telling than it seems.
With the template set by Zack Snyder, the DCEU is a franchise where any character is fair game to be killed off. Snyder revealed Dick Grayson as the deceased Robin whose suit was seen in the Batcave, while Batman himself was even meant to sacrifice his life later on. As established by Batman v Superman, Affleck's Bruce Wayne was one who'd experienced tremendous tragedy and didn't appear to have a large circle of friends outside of his butler and close ally Alfred Pennyworth, portrayed by Jeremy Irons. Based on Manganiello's description, it seems likely that Alfred would have been killed by Deathstroke in the movie, and this lines up with Richardson's description of the film exploring Batman's dark side. Though he'd already been pulled back from the brink in Batman v Superman, the death of Alfred would sure be a crushing loss for Bruce, with his newfound alliance with the Justice League possibly being the connection that saved him from going past the point of no return.
In addition to the details revealed by Manganiello already mentioned above, he also stated "There were similarities to The Game", referencing David Fincher's 1997 thriller. The film sees Michael Douglas playing a rich man taking part in what he believes to be a simple game, only for his life to be thrown into chaos. This dovetails with Manganiello's previous description of Deathstroke dismantling Bruce Wayne's life in the film, and between the two, it appears that Affleck's Batman might have fallen to an even lower point than where he was seen at in Batman v Superman.
In some respects, it also looks like Affleck may have been pulling from the Knightfall story from the comics, in which Batman is pushed to his limits through the machinations of Bane before being infamously crippled. In any case, what is very clear was that after the Dark Knight's redemption by Superman, Affleck intended to put Batman into a very psychologically taxing story with a methodical and sadistic villain, perhaps wanting to further drive home just how damaged his Bruce Wayne was from all he'd experienced and putting him through one more soul-crushing challenge in his solo movie.
With everything that's been made public about Affleck's Batman film, it sounds like it could have really been an amazing story for the Dark Knight, as storyboard artist Jay Oliva has endorsed it to have been. Though Affleck will be seen as Batman at least twice more in the Snyder Cut and The Flash, his Batman movie remains an unrealized story within the DCEU. Nevertheless, the fact that he's returned at all was a development that many believed was impossible, and DC is now clearly comfortable with having multiple Batmen at once as part of its Multiverse. When it comes to the DCEU, the last year's worth of developments show that literally anything can happen.
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