The subject of Ben Affleck returning to the role of Batman after Justice League is one that has been hotly debated throughout all of 2017. Fans fell in love with Affleck's portrayal after seeing him in Batman v Superman and were eager to see him write and direct a standalone Batman film after seeing him make Academy Award-winning movies for years. It was the ultimate dream for Batman fans and toward the end of 2016… that dream began to collapse.
Affleck dropped out from directing the movie after numerous rumors but for a while, it sounded like they'd be using his script. Once War for the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves joined the production, he revealed he was throwing out the script written by Affleck in collaboration with DC Comics writer Geoff Johns. There haven't been any details as to what Reeves' movie will include or if he'll keep anything Affleck did but we do know he plans on doing a trilogy.
With that said, Affleck's Batman is one that is much older and Affleck himself is nearing 50 years old and is already seemingly wanting to jump ship for a variety of reasons. It's unlikely he'd be able to or want to do a trilogy of Batman movies into the late 2020s and according to rumors from reputable sources, it sounds like Reeves doesn't really want Ben Affleck as his Batman.
Some have suggested that Reeves may be doing an almost prequel trilogy that shows off Batman's prime with a different, younger actor. It would allow Ben Affleck to bookend the movies by having him reflect on his best adventures as Bruce Wayne, meaning minimal screentime and stress for Affleck while still having him be apart of the movies.
So the only question is if this rumor is true, who will actually play Batman? While nothing is confirmed, multiple sources are corroborating that Matt Reeves wants Jake Gyllenhaal and they have had one meeting. Meetings like this happen all the time and it doesn't mean that Gyllenhaal is actually going to be Batman, this could simply be for another role in the movie or he could decline it altogether.
Gyllenhaal was actually in contention to play Batman many years ago when Christopher Nolan kicked off his trilogy but ultimately lost the role to Christian Bale. Toby Maguire was also reportedly nearly replaced by Gyllenhaal in Spider-Man 2 due to various behind the scenes issues.
We're not going to know for quite some time probably and for all we know, Ben Affleck may reprise his role after all. There's a lot of things that still have to be decided, especially given the fact that Justice League just came out and all parties including Warner Brothers will probably want to see how it performs before making major decisions like this.
Hypothetically, if Ben Affleck is recast who would you like to see replace him? Is Jake Gyllenhaal a suitable replacement or would you rather see someone else? Let us know in the comments below!
