In response to the flurry of online rumors that accompanied the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and during the promotional phase for Justice League, Ben Affleck admitted that he’d like to find a cool and graceful way to exit the DC Extended Universe.
Of course, the actor also said that he hadn't decided whether he'd star in Matt Reeves' Batman reboot. That indicated that the actor didn’t intend to end his relationship with the character out of the blue, as previous reports had suggested.
Justice League producer Charles Roven told Comic Book Resources that, as far as he knows, Affleck does intend to star in the reboot. Since Matt Reeves plans to make a trilogy (set post-Justice League), the actor will apparently wear the cowl for many years to come:
I'm not producing that movie; Matt Reeves is working on that. But I do work with Ben, so I know that he's certainly planning on starring in that film, but I don't know what the script is. I'm not producing that movie, so I'm probably the wrong guy to ask.
As divisive as the DCEU movies have been so far, everybody seems to agree that Ben Affleck did a great job of bringing Bruce Wayne and Batman to life. So it would be a shame if he dropped out now.
Multiple sources, including John Campea (26:00 in the video at the end of the article) and Screen Rant, report that Matt Reeves already has a potential replacement in mind, just in case Affleck does decide he doesn’t want to continue in the role. Some even say that the director has already met with his top choice, Jake Gyllenhaal, who was interested in the role when Christopher Nolan was casting Batman Begins.
By all means, given Gyllenhaal’s track record, he certainly is a top choice, but keep in mind that it’s just a rumor, although it does come from credible sources. But, until Matt Reeves tells us more, it’s nice to believe that the future’s in capable hands.
