Credit: Keith ChristensenA lot can be said about the retired DC Extended Universe (DCEU). It was heralded by some as a refreshing, gritty take on the superhero genre, while others saw it as a divisive collection of DC character films that lacked consistency and tone. Whatever the reason, Warner Bros. chose to deviate from this creative direction and would scrap multiple DC projects. One of which was a standalone Batman film that would have been co-written, directed and starred Ben Affleck. A former DCEU storyboard artist has now revealed what Affleck was planning to do with the Caped Crusader.
While it is hard for most fans to agree about the DCEU’s pedigree, one of the biggest consensus was that Ben Affleck’s 2016 portrayal of Batman was impressive. The Oscar-winning writer/director was in plans to develop his own Dark Knight film until a myriad of complications would soon crop up.
The first was the scandal of Justice League (2017) when Warner Bros. hired Joss Whedon to rewrite and reshoot Snyder’s original project. The studio had lost faith in Snyder’s creative vision and chose Whedon to “Marvel-ize” it, so that it could appeal to a wider audience. This created a polarizing shift in tone, humor, character motivations and overall look. The movie would become a box office failure in the eyes of critics and fans as a result.
This foible caused chaos at Warner Bros., which created bad blood between the executives and the creatives. Affleck expressed that it no longer became an enjoyable experience. It was a gradual exit as he stepped down as director. Then after his script was scrubbed for Matt Reeves’ Batman, this new direction, along with other personal struggles, made it clear that Affleck needed to move on from the role in 2019.
Affleck never divulged any details about his Batman story, but there were sources that claimed it was going to be a psychological thriller that would take place primarily at Arkham Asylum where Deathstroke would be the main villain. The Batman director, Matt Reeves, disclosed last year that he actually reviewed Affleck’s story. He felt it was ambitious since it would be an original story with no specific connection to any Batman source material. It read more like a James Bond film where there was a heavy reliance on high-tech gadgets.
Now, a former DCEU storyboard artist, Jay Oliva, has added further insight on the ‘Batman that could have been’ in this universe. Oliva expressed that Affleck’s take was “the best and it was amazing.” He read the second draft by Geoff Johns and Ben Affleck where they planned to explore “a lot of really cool Batman storylines that have never been covered in the comics. He was building off of storylines in the Batman mythos over the last 80 years and approaching it from a new kind of perspective.”
The discontinued DCEU was designed to compete with and surpass the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with its release of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Warner Bros. invested the future of the DCEU with Snyder, but lost faith in his creative vision. This ultimately led to an internal dismantling within the company that ultimately affected the films themselves.
Affleck had the directorial prowess to have made a compelling Batman movie, but is another DC project left to fan fiction. It is unfortunate that the last appearance of “Batfleck” was an unsatisfying appearance in The Flash. There is always a chance for Affleck’s return after the recent news that Gal Gadot still plans to reprise Wonder Woman, but until then the fanbase will have to watch Affleck last performance as Bruce Wayne in the Aquaman sequel. The story of Batman will never cease as fans will now have to wait to see what Andy Muschietti has in store for the World’s Greatest Detective.
What do you think of Affleck’s take on Batman? Would you want to see him return as the Dark Knight?