Ben Affleck's Batman Will Be "Mostly Original"
So there goes the chance of Red Hood and Arkham Asylum, then.
Even before Ben Affleck's solo Batman film - tentatively called The Batman by a few people, including Jeremy Irons - was announced, there was talk of what he might be adapting. The first rumour suggested Under The Red Hood would follow Justice League, with the Dead Robin hint in Batman v Superman coming back into play. Turns out that's not the case.
Then the second big rumour said the film would include "almost every Batman villain", suggesting all manner of possibilities, like Arkham Asylum. Turns out, that's not the case either.
According to Ben Affleck himself, speaking to Cines Argentinos, the plan is to go original:
"I think what I would do, what I probably would do, is in some ways what Zack did with this movie, which is to borrow certain things from the great comic books, but create an original story around it because I wouldn't want the fans to already know the story and be familiar, but I would borrow, steal, great things that have been done before in the comics."
That doesn't entirely mean he won't adapt parts of Red Hood or Arkham, it just means we shouldn't expect anything to go as suspected. Hopefully, he'll choose Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth as the basis he works from and changes, because someone needs to make that film and he is equipped to do it better than most.
What seems inevitable is that Robin's death will play a part, and the Joker, and it wouldn't be too terrible a guess to suspect Will Smith's Deadshot might reappear. Irons' Alfred definitely will. Everything else is up for debate.
Are you happy to hear Affleck is making his own Batman film rather than strictly following a comic? Share your reactions below in the comments thread, and for more reasons why Ben Affleck needs to adapt Arkham Asylum, click here.