Concept art for Ben Affleck's unmade The Batman movie shows some of the best upgrades to the Dark Knight's armor yet, which would've been ideal for fighting Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello). Affleck debuted as a veteran Batman in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and had scripted a solo Batman movie as part of his run as Bruce Wayne. However, a collection of factors led Affleck to step away from the film and the role, which eventually became Matt Reeves' The Batman with Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne.
Affleck has since spoken of the negative experience he had during the Joss Whedon-directed reshoots on Justice League as a part of what motivated his departure. Despite this, the world eventually got to see the film as intended with the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League, while Affleck will be seen again as Batman in The Flash. While Affleck's Batman movie never got rolling, details about it continue to trickle out.
Artist Keith Christensen has released concept art depicting the Batsuit design for Affleck's unrealized Batman movie. Some of the latest concept art from Christensen includes a look at Batman's cowl, which features three pieces of interlocking removable armor placed over an under suit. Other concept art from Christensen shows Batman's gauntlets with a set of retractable blades on the forearms. These modifications are not only very well-designed, but show how Batman's suit was intended to be used for Affleck's film, and in particular how useful they would've been for fighting Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke, specifically.
Affleck's Batman movie was planned to pick up from the yacht scene in Zack Snyder's Justice League. In the sequence, Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) hires Deathstroke to assassinate Batman. Slade describes a "personal" vendetta between them, and was to be very ruthless in his mission coming directly off of Zack Snyder's Justice League's ending and Bruce's secret identity being revealed to him by Lex. Manganiello has revealed significant details of Affleck's Batman story too. Describing it as akin to David Fincher's The Game, Slade was to set about ruining Bruce's life and killing those closest to him. With Deathstroke proving an extremely formidable opponent, Batman would receive help from Batgirl in fighting his enemy. Additionally, Arkham Asylum was also to feature heavily in Affleck's Batman movie, and everything known about the film puts his suit upgrades into context.
Having battled both Superman (Henry Cavill) and an Apokoliptian invasion by this point, the always innovative Batman would surely take note of how his suit could be improved. Christensen's concept art shows that Affleck's very seasoned Batman was creating a new set of strategic armor to stand-up to Deathstroke with. His retractable blades on his wrist gauntlets also show a kind of surprise weapon Batman was adding to his suit that could help counter Deathstroke's swords.
Affleck's Batman film also wouldn't have been the only place audiences would see Slade Wilson. A Deathstroke origin movie was in the works with Gareth Evans, director of The Raid movies. Additionally, Slade also joined forces with Batman in the Knightmare future of Zack Snyder's Justice League sequels. All of it would've began with Affleck's Batman movie pitting the Dark Knight against Deathstroke. While it, the Deathstroke movie, and the Knightmare-based Justice League future stand as unmade films, Christensen's concept art offers a nice glimpse at how Affleck's Caped Crusader was preparing to face Deathstroke in his version of The Batman.
