Ben Affleck’s The Batman would have followed Zack Snyder’s Justice League in the early part of 2019. Snyder had placed a set up for Batfleck’s tussle with Deathstroke, and The Batman would have bridged the gap between Justice League & JL 2. But sadly, there was a lot of drama going on the set of Justice League after Snyder’s departure, and Affleck was fighting with alcoholism at the same time. So, he just lost interest in his film and left the project. Since Warner Bros. was invested in a Batman project by then, they brought in Matt Reeves. He took the project in a different independent direction.
While Reeves has certainly impressed everyone with The Batman’s trailer, people still want to see Ben Affleck in his own solo Batman movie or an HBO Max series. After the massive success of the Snyder Cut and a record-breaking campaign run by the fans, what everyone wants is to #RestoretheSnyderVerse. If the restoration happens, then we’d get our Batfleck project, at least two Justice League sequels, a Cyborg movie, and probably a Deathstroke solo as well. We’d love all that. But the project that people want the most (besides the JL sequels) is Ben Affleck’s The Batman. ‘Why’ you may ask? Well, here’s your answer:
Everything We Know About Batfleck’s Cancelled Film
Batman V Deathstroke
The ending of Zack Snyder’s Justice League totally set up the upcoming conflict between Batman and Deathstroke. Slade Wilson volunteered to destroy Batman for a personal vendetta (He probably blames Batsy for the death of his kid). Lex Luthor told him about Batman’s secret identity. This information was extremely crucial for him as he was going to systematically destroy Bruce’s public figure persona as one of Gotham’s elites. Besides that, Slade would have obviously attacked Bruce’s private crime-fighting life as the Dark Knight. Apparently, Ben Affleck wanted an “Arkham Origins” level fight sequence involving Batman and Deathstroke.
Here’s what Joe Manganiello told Yahoo Entertainment about the story of The Batman:
“It was a really dark story in which Deathstroke was like a shark or a horror movie villain that was dismantling Bruce’s life from the inside out. It was this systemic thing: He killed everyone close to Bruce and destroyed his life to try and make him suffer because he felt that Bruce was responsible for something that happened to him.”
Plot Inspirations
In the past, Manganiello has really praised the script that Ben Affleck wrote for the film. According to him, it was “the best script” he had ever read. He said that The Batman would have had “similarities to The Game.” In this 1997 cult-favorite directed by David Fincher, Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas) received a voucher for a certain game and lost everything overnight. A shadowy organization arranged for this so-called “game,” and it led to Orton ending up in all sorts of trouble. So similarly, Deathstroke would have led Batman on a wild goose chase while making him a part of a deeper conspiracy.
Deathstroke would have demolished Bruce’s life. So, Bruce would have had to learn to pick himself up from an eternal abyss. And that’s where the inspiration from Frank Miller’s classic run on Marvel’s Daredevil, “Born Again” would have come into play.
Deathstroke V Batgirl
Batman would have met his match in terms of brains and brawns. Deathstroke was really going to push him into a corner. And from there on, Batsy would have obviously risen from the ashes, but not without help! This action-packed Batman solo would have seen the debut of Batgirl in the DCEU. Manganiello recently said on the ComicBook Nation podcast:
“There was like a big huge showdown. I think… Batgirl jumps in to try to help Bruce because Deathstroke is so fast that he can anticipate Bruce’s movements. And there was this huge fight in Gotham City where Batman is like, you know, completely afraid because he realizes he’s met someone who can take him. And that leads to this big climactic battle through the streets of Gotham City at the end.”
Other Villains
Back when Affleck was indeed working on the script, we heard several reports that his film will involve a massive Rogues Gallery. The likes of Penguin and the Riddler were supposed to play substantial roles in the film as well. Now, it is known that Matt Reeves has kept that part intact for his upcoming Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson.
We are extremely psyched about Robert Pattinson’s The Batman. But HBO Max should definitely green light a Batfleck mini-series, if not a film. Fans absolutely adore Affleck’s Batman, and The Flash should not be his final DCEU film.
Would you like to see Ben Affleck’s solo Batman project on HBO Max? Let us know in the comments below!
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