Ben Affleck likely out soon as Batman
 

Interesting.....



The studio is working on plans to usher out Affleck’s Batman gracefully, a source says, addressing the change in some shape or form in one of the upcoming DC films.
Ben Affleck is heading to Comic-Con this weekend to promote Warner Bros.’ upcoming Justice League movie, set for a Nov. 17 release. But how many more times is he likely to put on the Batsuit? Probably not many, if ever again.

Yes, Warners’ film studio chief Toby Emmerich tells The Hollywood Reporter, "Ben is our Batman. We love him as Batman. We want to keep him in the cowl as long as we can." And Matt Reeves, who will direct the studio’s still-undated (and unwritten) The Batman, has said that he means to keep Affleck in the role. But a source with knowledge of the situation says that the studio is working on plans to usher out Affleck’s Batman — gracefully, addressing the change in some shape or form in one of the upcoming DC films.

Exactly when and how that might happen has yet to be determined, but it would be wise to bet against Affleck starring in The Batman. He has already stepped away from directing the film and Reeves is dropping the script that Affleck wrote with D.C. Entertainment’s Geoff Johns.

Reeves also has acknowledged that he has a Batman trilogy rolling around in his head, and given his success making two-thirds of a trilogy out of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes, it seems fair to anticipate that Warners will want him to realize his vision.

In addition, Affleck will turn 45 in August, so he would be pushing 50 before The Batman arrives in theaters. If Reeves makes a trilogy, Affleck would be in his mid-50s at best by the time that’s done. Maybe Tom Cruise could pull that off, but Affleck’s body hasn’t exactly been a temple.

And while male stars have been able to stretch their action-film relevance further in an age when there are fewer bankable young stars (Robert Downey Jr. is 52 and going strong as Iron Man), studios favor the fresh-faced — look what happened with Spider-Man, successfully rebooted with 21-year-old Tom Holland. (Affleck also just dropped out of the Netflix project Triple Frontier, and it’s not clear what his next movie will be. His reps declined to comment.)

Warners could hypothetically create dual Batmen, keeping Affleck in the role for a planned Justice League follow-up, while letting Reeves cast his movie with a different star. But that hardly seems likely. The first Justice League already is at an inflection point: Director Zack Snyder has stepped away in mid-production and his successor, Joss Whedon, is said to be doing extensive reshoots. (Note that Justice League member Superman is played by Henry Cavill, 34, The Flash is Ezra Miller, 24, Aquaman is Jason Momoa, 37, and Wonder Woman is 32-year-old Gal Gadot.) And a second Justice League movie would be years down the road. THR reported Thursday that Shazam!, with a yet-to-be-cast title star, will be the next DC movie to shoot.



The landmark 1993 Knightfall storyline left Wayne temporarily paralyzed, leading him to appoint a vigilante called Azrael as his Batman replacement. When Azrael went rogue, Wayne came out of retirement to stop him and then swiftly retired once more, appointing Dick Grayson (AKA Robin) as the new Batman. That was so successful that when Wayne was assumed dead in 2009, Grayson took on the cowl for a second time. (Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises even went this route, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt's John Blake getting the keys to the Batcave after Bale's Bruce Wayne was presumed dead.)


In the comics, Grayson stayed on as Batman even when Wayne returned to work as The Dark Knight, with the two different Batmen splitting appearances between the various comic books. Bruce Wayne took Batman Inc. and Batman and Robin, while Grayson's stories ran in Batman and Detective Comics. Grayson also appeared monthly in the Justice League of America series during this period, arguably making him the more high-profile of the two characters.

Warner Bros. could even go with the Batman Beyond approach. The fan-favorite animated series (1999-2001) saw an elderly Bruce Wayne train a young man called Terry McGinnis as his apprentice, with Wayne teaching him to take over the role as Batman. Of course, there's a downside to the passing-the-torch scenarios: It's hard to imagine fans or Reeves being excited about following someone who is not Bruce Wayne for a Batman trilogy.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hea...future-1023296

Believe it when I see it....WB sounds like they want him back. Odd this is coming out on the heels of SDCC and likely a JL trailer. He is contracted for JL 1&2....not the Batman yet. They said Batman is Bruce Wayne...you have to keep it that way.
Still nervous

From my understanding, it all depends on the success of Justice League.

Reeves idea is a trilogy and will likely cast a younger actor.

Nightwing is coming up soon as well.

Affleck as the older Batman wouldn't be an issue.

Hope its true. Can't stand Affleck as Batman. He is a bloated alcoholic mess and looks ridiculous as the Dark Knight. Don't get me wrong , he's a good to decent director but his acting is lacking in most movies. Plus he is damn near 50 years old. You know damn well Matt Reeves doesn't want to do a Batman trilogy with an old ass Batman at the helm haha.
Like I said, really really hope its true and they get a much younger actor (in his 30s) to portray the Batman .

I have O problems with Affleck as Batman... he can pull off the older, Frank Miller Batman given better scripts

My kid gave me Frank Millers, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns comic a while back... and that aging, beaten down, cynical and murderous Batman is just dying for a movie

And no, Bale vs Bane is not what I'm talking about, at all... what a letdown that was

No matter what happens I trust Reeves but I def like Affleck as Batman...he has that dark knight returns feel to him.

The bottom line is that if Ben Affleck isn't Batman moving forward, it's because Ben Affleck chose not to portray the character moving forward.

He's had a lot of difficulty in his life since the success of The Town. On again, off again relationship with his now ex-wife (who couldn't deal with his success), the negativity surrounding Batman v. Superman, despite earning nearly $900 million dollars, etc.

Affleck is a huge earner for Warners and they're not going to unceremoniously dump him if it isn't something that he doesn't want or will upset him.

Its too bad, because hes a pretty talented guy. NOt the best actor, but an ok one but a really good director. Hopefully he pulls it together.

In a day and age where everyone's a critic, it's very difficult for people to deal with constant criticism, especially with a property like Batman and Superman.

The Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Ant-Man, Thor and even Iron Man are much easier to pull of because those characters hadn't been portrayed time and time again on the big and small screen.

That said, I expect significant blowback when the day comes that Marvel replaces Tony Stark with an actor other than RDJ.

Thats a good point and one of the reasons i think Wonder Woman has been so successfull.

There was really nothing to compare it to. It was the first time that characer had been given a decent treatment on film. One that wasnt pure camp anyways.

We saw Spider-Man: Homecoming yesterday and I thought it was fantastic. The best portrayal yet of Spider-man/Peter Parker, from my perspective.

The film was helped out somewhat by the Andrew Garfield and final Tobey Maguire portrayals but IMO, this is the first time Marvel got Spiderman "right".

Tom Holland will have this role as long as he wants and he may end appearing in more movies than RDJ as Iron Man.

I heard that Affleck is actually completely bald. Any truth to that?

It's also the first time they got to do Spider-man at all, theatrically.

IF they can keep Affleck to do Knightfall (more Bane) and have an ultra violent Azrael/Batman, with Batfleck coming in to take the cowl back, that could be cool. If they have to recast him totally, that would suck.