8 Reasons Ben Affleck Should Retire From Batman

Another week, another report emerging from 'inside sources' that Warner Bros. and Ben Affleck aren't quite seeing eye-to-eye on this whole Batman thing anymore.

Rumors have swirled for months now as to whether or not the actor would be reprising his role in the DCEU franchise, with various confusing statements and contradictions. One week Ben says he loves the role and will answer the call anytime he's needed; the next week he's looking for a 'cool' way to transition out of it.

One week Warner Bros. loves him and couldn't ask for a better actor to play the role. The next week they're upset that he hasn't become their own personal 'RDJ' or face of the franchise and they want Jake Gyllenhaal. It's all terribly confusing.

Now, a report has emerged from inside Warner Bros., claiming that the studio is looking to make set plans for the future but that Affleck is non-committal. He seemingly has no interest in officially signing on for or vacating from the role. With Matt Reeve's Batman solo film and several other DCEU films apparently looming on the horizon, a decision will need to be reached sooner rather than later.

And frankly, for several reasons, it is time for Affleck to leave the franchise...

One of the other possibilities that have been hinted at, at various points over the last few months, is that Affleck may very well be replaced in Matt Reeve's standalone film but continue to appear in other DCEU films, such as Suicide Squad 2 or Flashpoint.

This would be a terrible idea.

As much as some comic book fans may be excited about DC's apparent plan to dip their toes into their infamous 'elseworld' stories with Todd Phillips' upcoming Joker film, general audiences will be entirely confused by this.

The general public has a hard enough time as it is keeping up with the sprawling narratives of the multiple cinematic universes in play. Introducing the concept of two actors playing the same role but being completely unrelated will be hard enough with Joker but imagine for a moment a world in which the main DCEU films have Batman being played by two different leading men within the same story.

It is ludicrous. If Affleck bows out of the role now, it is a clear line in the sand and a single actor can continue to play Batman from this point forward, maintaining some semblance of coherency.