Ben Affleck's Batman Will Reportedly Be "Gracefully" Ushered Out of The DCEU

When Ben Affleck was first cast as Batman, I wondered how long he would actually play the character in the DCEU. He seems like the kind of actor that wouldn't commit to a role like this for a long period of time. We'll see him in the Justice League films and we're supposed to see him in director Matt Reeve's The Batman but after that... who knows what's going to happen!? 

Even though studio chief Toby Emmerich says, "Ben is our Batman. We love him as Batman. We want to keep him in the cowl as long as we can." THR insiders are saying the studio is already looking to usher out Affleck’s Batman — gracefully, addressing the change in some shape or form in one of the upcoming DC films."

We have no idea when or how this will all happen but the report says, "it would be wise to bet against Affleck starring in The Batman." The reason they say this is because Affleck has already stepped away from directing the film and Reeves is dropping the script that Affleck wrote with D.C. Entertainment’s Geoff Johns.

Reeves has also hinted at developing a Batman trilogy and if that's the case, will Affleck commit to that or drop out before they even start shooting? If Reeves does have a story arc idea that spans three films, there's no doubt that the studio will want to roll with it, especially with the crazy success of his Planet of the Apes films so they'll need at least a three picture commitment from Affleck or another actor. 

It's also suggested that the studio could have two different versions of Batman with different actors playing them. Affleck could stick with the Justice League in the DCEU and Matt Reeves could make a completely different Batman trilogy that isn't connected to the DCEU films with a different actor playing the Dark Knight. That's probably not how it will go down, though. I don't think the studio would risk confusing the DC movie brand they are building.

One thing we should prepare ourselves for, though, is the departure of Ben Affleck's Batman. It's kind of a shame because I've actually really enjoyed Affleck's version of the Dark Knight. When they do end up replacing Batman, how do you think it will go down, and who would you like to see replace him in the role?