The subject of Ben Affleck staying on Batman has been a very hot topic since the start of 2017. Affleck was originally supposed to write and direct the standalone Batman film and eventually dropped out for various reasons including his personal health. The film will now be helmed by War for the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves with an all-new script and while Reeves and WB are keen on keeping Affleck in the cape and cowl, there are major rumors floating around suggesting that he's going to retire after Justice League.
The rumors began to gain traction last month at the start of Comic-Con which lead to a very public statement from Affleck where he boasted his enthusiasm for the character and the DC universe but he didn't outright deny them.
Fans remain on edge as Justice League approaches and a new development may send some fans overboard. Ben Affleck's brother, Academy Award winning actor Casey Affleck, commented on the rumors on a Boston radio show stating Affleck is out.
“I thought he was an OK Batman. No, I thought he was great. He was great. He’s a hero, so he had something to channel and work with there. But he’s not going to do that movie, I don’t think. Sorry to say." A host then said that this was breaking news and Affleck began to backtrack. "Is that breaking news? Because I was just kind of making that up, I don’t know.”
It's really hard to say if what he said was a joke but he says it with a very serious face and his tone certainly didn't indicate that he was joking. He only began to retract his statements when the hosts reacted and said that this was news. It seems that Casey realized his mistake and maybe began to try to cover his bases. It's totally unclear but you can watch the clip below and judge for yourself, the specific subject comes up at the 6 minute mark.
Justice League is out on November 17th, 2017.
