Although Henry Cavill may be back as Superman, the same cannot be said for Ben Affleck’s Batman. In a bold declaration, the São Paulo Comic Con Experience has teased what possibly looks like the future of DCU. The CCXP 2022 poster for the new legacy establishing lineup for DCU’s future team very much displays its definitive set of Justice League heroes with the exception of Batfleck, and while Flash and Cyborg may be missing, The Rock’s Black Adam takes his place at the front and center.
With the fans left more confused than heartbroken, the crowd has started the debate over what it means for the future of DCU to erase Ben Affleck as Batman and replace the SnyderVerse hero with Matt Reeves’s Battinson.
CCXP 2022 Reveals New Details About DCU’s Upcoming Saga
The Brazilian annual CCXP event that rivals even the San Diego Comic-Con has proven to be the harbinger of some ground-breaking news this year just as DC takes its first formative stance toward rebuilding its fractured narrative. With James Gunn busy charting out what looks like a very promising and exciting timeline in the coming decade of DC Studios, the management elsewhere has taken the liberty to drop some hints about said plans, perhaps to serve as a soft launch for the fandom instead of the month-end dump that may make some of the new changes hard to digest.
Among those changes are included the erasure of one of the most prominent and tragic SnyderVerse Justice League heroes. The CCXP’s promotion of the new DCU establishes a lineup that witnessed Gal Gadot‘s Wonder Woman, Robert Pattinson‘s Batman, Dwayne Johnson‘s Black Adam, Jason Momoa‘s Aquaman, and Henry Cavill‘s Superman in that order. While the first and latest recruit of DCU takes his place at the center of the new hierarchy, the Justice League bands together but without Ben Affleck as the older, more cynical, morally ambiguous, and broken Batman. Reeves’s vision of the younger and formative vigilante instead rises to the occasion, leaving room for much development in the coming future.
How Ben Affleck’s Departure Actually Secures the DCU
The rendition of Zack Snyder’s vision in DC Extended Universe has always been one marred by tragedy and an apocalyptic future. The director stepped onto the platform with an expansive and ambitious plan for the established DC heroes and took them on a path that questioned, challenged, and redefined the fandom’s perception of what it takes for heroes to survive through decades of loss and cruelty. In such a universe, Batman operates within a morally grey area, leaving behind his idealistic plans to save Gotham and instead branding his victims, essentially sending them to their deaths.
The SnyderVerse Batman has also already faced the Joker and lost Robin. The latter’s suit enshrined in the glass beside Batman’s own cape and cowl stands like a monument of remembrance, mocking Gotham’s Dark Knight every time he goes out into the night that he failed to save his sole ward’s life. Moreover, Ben Affleck’s Batman did not navigate through the years that are already known to the fandom and instead jumps headfirst into the precursor of the Knightmare timeline.
This version of Justice League Batman doesn’t serve the new DCU’s purpose, nor does he place anywhere within the story apart from the one depicted by Zack Snyder. Granted that Henry Cavill’s complex history is most likely under reconstruction with some help from the Flashpoint paradox, a new Batman also becomes essential to the progression of the new DCU. It would then make sense why Robert Pattinson can step into the 10-year timeline with a clean slate and take the character on a run around the block without having to worry about his past narrative.
Fans Clamor in the Aftermath of Ben Affleck’s DCU Erasure
Despite the pros overshadowing the cons of Batfleck’s DC resignation, the fans are still connected to the actor’s rendition of one of the darker and more grim versions of the Bat of Gotham — a role that suited the comic character supremely well. In the CCXP teaser about Ben Affleck’s departure, the fandom takes to Twitter to mourn the coming loss.
The news may not yet be a definitive indication of Ben Affleck’s complete retirement from the new DCU given that his Batman is still set to appear in the 2023 DC Studios films, The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Whether the two arcs could potentially end Batfleck’s career remains to be seen. Until then, hail Battinson.
The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom premiere on 23 June 2023 and 25 December 2023 respectively.
Source: Twitter
