Right now, it looks as though Ben Affleck will don the cape and cowl one last time, but not in The Batman. Apparently, he’ll appear in Flashpoint, instead.
As soon as Justice League’s opening weekend numbers went public, many speculated that it was inevitable that there would be a major shake-up and restructuring of the unofficially-labeled DC Extended Universe at Warner Bros. According to a new report from Variety, this may amount to more than just speculation.
In the midst of all the details, a section toward the end of the article may have been its biggest attention-grabber. That section suggested that Affleck is "expected" to return as Batman in Flashpoint, the first solo outing of The Flash (Ezra Miller).
Variety’s sources went on to say that it's "highly unlikely" that the 45-year-old actor will be back for the announced Batman standalone movie, which he’d agreed to write and direct. Matt Reeves, who took over as director in February, is "said to want to cast the role with fresh talent".
The report didn’t mention a specific actor to replace Affleck as Batman, but we've heard rumors that the director is considering Jake Gyllenhaal. The most recent online rumor suggested that Jon Hamm was "gunning hard" for the role. So, the latest story doesn't necessarily contradict the ones that came before.
The Variety piece, which was quite detailed, also said that Jon Berg will no longer co-run DC Films with Geoff Johns. Instead, he'll team up with Roy Lee as a producer at the same studio. As for Johns, his DCEU involvement may evolve into something "more advisory in nature" in the days to come. And unlike Disney's approach to letting Marvel operate autonomously, Warner Bros. is considering "further integrating DC's film operations into the studio's main movie arm".
