The question on many fans' minds has been, will Ben Affleck sign on for Matt Reeves' planned The Batman trilogy? Warner Bros. officially kicked off the DC Extended Universe last year with Zack Snyder's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, which introduced audiences to Affleck's Batman as well as Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman. The duo will next be reprising their roles in Snyder's Justice League later this year, which sees them unite with the rest of the world's finest heroes -- Superman (Henry Cavill), Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) -- against Steppenwolf and his Parademon army.

The DCEU's next movies will be James Wan's Aquaman in 2018, with David F. Sandberg's Shazam! and Wonder Woman 2 in 2019, but after that, the studio has more than a dozen DC Comics movies in various stages of development. Among those other movies is Matt Reeves' highly anticipated The Batman, which the director wants to extend into a full-fledged trilogy. Unfortunately, the production has been plagued with rumors of Affleck exiting his role as Batman following the first movie's release. The actor vehemently denied the rumors at San Diego Comic-Con 2017 this past weekend, and now rumors have suggested that he's actually signed on for the other two movies as well.

Fortress of Solitude reported that Ben Affleck signed on for Reeves' The Batman trilogy, which would eventually set up Batman Beyond, based on the animated TV series (and later comic book series) of the same name. For those that don't know, Batman Beyond followed teenager Terry McGinnis who was being mentored by an elderly Bruce Wayne in a futuristic Gotham. The rumor has since been refuted by Batman News' Chris Begley and The Wrap's Umberto Gonzalez.

To those asking: No, Ben Affleck did not sign a new Batman contract. If he did, the source of that news wouldn't be a South African website.— Batman-News.com (@BatmanNewsCom) July 28, 2017

Seconded— Umberto Gonzalez (@elmayimbe) July 28, 2017

Although the rumor has been denied, it begs the question, will Affleck stay on for the entirety of Reeves' currently planned trilogy? Affleck hasn't officially re-upped his contract with the studio to star in Reeves' two additional solo Batman films, since he recently said he's only contracted for one more movie after Justice League. The rumor's suggestion that the Batman trilogy could eventually lead into Batman Beyond, though, is intriguing because it's something that could potentially happen down the line (though we don't know that it will). After all, Bruce hasn't been the only comic book character to carry the Caped Crusader's mantle over the years.

If Bruce were to retire (or be killed off), the logical replacement would be Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing. Since Chris McKay (The LEGO Batman Movie) has already been hired to write and direct the DCEU Nightwing film, it makes sense for the first Robin to become Gotham's new protector after Bruce's tenure expires. Then again, having Affleck continue his role as Bruce Wayne as McGinnis' mentor is another viable route, which would then leave Grayson open to continuing his story with the Titans. Unfortunately, we won't know what Warner Bros.' upcoming DCEU slate is, and how Batman fits in, until after Justice League hits theaters this fall.

Next: Every DC Movie Comic-Con Reveal 2017

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