Ben Affleck was originally supposed to get his own standalone Batman film before Robert Pattinson took over the role in Matt Reeves’ The Batman.
Ben Affleck developed a solo Batman script set in DCEU and was attached to direct the screenplay he had co-written with Geoff Johns about Batman battling the Deathstroke.
In a conversation with Jeff Goldsmith and his Q&A podcast, The Batman Director Matt Reeves explained how he ended up directing “The Batman” film starring Robert Pattinson, which came out earlier this year. While detailing the genesis of his film he talked about the Batman project staring Ben Affleck which he was asked to direct originally. He was initially assigned to direct Affleck’s version of the script.
Reeves revealed some details and aspects of the intended movie. He said:
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The movie was originally going to be directed by Ben Affleck, and the script they sent me had been written by Ben but rewritten by another very talented writer, and when I read it, I was like, ’Oh, I get it.’ It was a standalone Batman film that was centered on Ben’s version of the character, but it was more action-driven than what I felt I could do. I didn’t connect to the movie-in terms of me as a filmmaker. It was very James Bond-ian; it was filled with a lot of set pieces. It could have been a very exciting movie for someone else to do, but it wasn’t for me to do.
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Reeves added:
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Interestingly, I think Ben wasn’t so sure he wanted to it because he ultimately stepped away from doing Batman all together … Probably because of the choices in his life at that time and what he wanted to do.
I said look, I think maybe I’m not the person for this, And I explained to them why I love this character. I told them that there have been so many great movies, but if I were to do this, I’d have to make it personal, so that I understood what I was going to do with it, so that I know where to put the camera, so that I know what to tell the actors, so that I know what the story should be.
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Ben Affleck will be back as the caped crusader in Andy Muschietti’s The Flash which is currently scheduled to hit theatres next year on 23rd June 2023. It was originally slated to premiere in cinemas in November 2022.
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