The Batman Rumour: Matt Reeves Doesn't Want Ben Affleck
The end is nigh.
It sounds an awful lot like Ben Affleck might have played Batman for the last time. On the back of a surprisingly cool critical reception to his performance in Justice League (which seems to be too toned down from Batman v Superman, where he was the MVP), a new rumour clarification has hit Twitter from ScreenRant's Rob Keyes suggesting he won't be back for The Batman.
And rather devastatingly for fans, Keyes says it's because Matt Reeves doesn't want him - which is far from the least predictable revelation today. He was always going to want to come in and make his own series (as he did with the Planet Of The Apes franchise), and inheriting a character in the third act of their narrative development doesn't allow for that enough.
There is of course the possibility that we'll see a Justice League sequel that continues on this timeline, but given the critical response to the ensemble, it might be better to move to stand-alone series and movies again and not forcing a shared universe.
If that means we get a purer vision of what Reeves wants to do, then that cannot be classed as a bad thing. And having a younger Batman with a full gallery of rogues to choose from (who would all be retired or locked up by the time we meet them in Affleck's timeline) is a far better idea for a new Batman series.
John Campea has also said similar on his YouTube series, The John Campea Show, revealing that Reeves has someone in mind for if Affleck leaves, and confirming that the director doesn't want him:
"I’m hesitant to say anything, but I talked to a Hollywood producer yesterday who told me who Matt Reeves wants as Batman. And, I’ll be honest with you, the name they [gave] me caught me a little bit by surprise. I called somebody else later in the day, saying, ‘Hey, I heard this, is there any validity to this?’ And they said, ‘Well, Matt does want him.’ But, that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. There’s been no movement or anything like that. It doesn’t mean anything’s going to happen."
It's bound to come as a shock to some Batfleck fans, but this might well be the best thing for the movies and for Affleck himself.