Ben Affleck Reasons to Leave The Batman:
“There was a time above…a time before…there were perfect things…diamond absolutes. But things fall…things on earth. And what falls…is fallen.” Not a lot of people really understood the idea behind the casting of Ben Affleck as Batman back when the first announcement was made in 2014. But right after the first revelation of Batfleck, people were on board. What people thought would be the worst thing about Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice became the best part of it. Ben Affleck’s Batman was really something that could have really deliver us our best live action Batman story. But it was never meant to be and now Robert Pattinson has taken over as the Caped Crusader.
There are most of us who still miss the idea of getting a solo Batman movie directed by Ben Affleck. Despite the fact that Batman was ruined by the changes Whedon made to the character, we still wanted to see more from Batfleck. That’s just because of what we saw in the Warehouse fight sequence and what we almost got in Justice League. Joe Manganiello was going to play Deathstroke, the main antagonist of The Batman. Together these two characters could’ve given us the most bad-ass fight sequences just like the Arkham games. But being Batman actually broke something in Ben Affleck.
The initial backlash from the fans and the entire drama over Justice League just didn’t help his cause. All of it took a toll on his personal life, his addiction to alcohol. And so, Ben Affleck just couldn’t complete the script he was working on for his own solo Batman film. And what we could’ve got never happened. The drama over Justice League and Alcoholism are the two main reasons Affleck let go of the Dark Knight. New York Times recently wrote:
“Africa in 1900 is a long way from “The Batman,” which Affleck was supposed to direct himself. He stepped aside, allowing Matt Reeves to take over (and Robert Pattinson to don the cowl), after deciding that the troubled shoot for “Justice League” had sapped his interest. Affleck never seemed to enjoy his time as Batman; his sullen demeanor while promoting “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” in 2016 resulted in the hit meme Sad Affleck.”
Ben Affleck had his own comments upon the situation he told the news outlet:
“I showed somebody ‘The Batman’ script. They said, ‘I think the script is good. I also think you’ll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through again.”
Right after leaving the project, Affleck went into therapy. It took some time but he was able to fight it in the long term. Last we heard, he drowned himself in a workout regiment and came out looking like the beefcake you see above. And now he’d be making his big come back in March with his sports drama film The Way Back. If you watch the trailer, the story reflects exactly what happened in his life in the last few years. I know I’m personally going to love this movie a lot. We can only hope that we’d get more of Batfleck in the Snydercut, if WB would ever agree to release it in the future.
Even though Batfleck isn’t returning, we’re pretty excited about what Matt Reeves is going to do with Robert Pattinson in The Batman. His story will be very different, very real. We already like the approach Reeves has taken with the Bat-suit. Matt Reeves talked about how this detective story will be driven. He said:
“It’s very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale. It’s told very squarely on his shoulders, and I hope it’s going to be a story that will be thrilling but also emotional. It’s more Batman in his detective mode than we’ve seen in the films. The comics have a history of that. He’s supposed to be the world’s greatest detective, and that’s not necessarily been a part of what the movies have been. I’d love this to be one where when we go on that journey of tracking down the criminals and trying to solve a crime, it’s going to allow his character to have an arc so that he can go through a transformation.”
The Batman arrives on June 25, 2021.
