Ben Affleck is expected to play Batman one more time in the Flashpoint movie, reuniting him with Ezra Miller as Barry Allen aka. The Flash.
For months now, the future of Ben Affleck's Batman has been up in the air. We've had rumor after rumor that Affleck was considering moving on from the role. Until now, those have been denied, but the latest reports suggest there was an element of truth to them after all. Matt Reeves, it would appear, is looking to recruit a new actor to play the Caped Crusader in The Batman.
Related: The Batman to Recast Ben Affleck
That said, fans will be relieved to hear that Affleck's tenure isn't quite over yet. According to Variety, Affleck may well play the role one last time. He's expected to appear in the Flash's first solo film, Flashpoint, expected to release in 2020. No doubt this is partly due to the strong mentor/student dynamic between Affleck's Batman and Ezra Miller's Flash in Justice League, easily one of the film's highlights.
2011's Flashpoint was one of the most important events in DC comic book history. It featured Barry Allen attempting to travel back to the past and save his mother's life. As a result, he unwittingly rewrote the DC timeline, creating a dark reality in which Aquaman and Wonder Woman were at war. Perhaps the most fascinating twist of all was an inversion of the traditional Batman mythos. In the Flashpoint timeline, it had been Bruce Wayne who were gunned down in an alley. The grief-stricken Thomas Wayne, Bruce's father, had donned the cowl and become a far more violent version of Batman.
In the end, Flash traveled back and succeeded in restoring something closely resembling the original timeline. But it wasn't an exact match; DC used the rewriting of history as a sort of reset button, making a number of key changes to their franchises as part of the "New 52" initiative. This allowed them to correct perceived mistakes of the past, and to launch the entire DC comic book universe in a whole new direction.
It's easy to see why the nascent DCEU is ripe for a Flashpoint event. So far, the films have hardly been critical successes. Worse still, with the exception of Wonder Woman, every film has seen a diminishing box office return. Something about the DCEU just isn't quite resonating with casual viewers, and Flashpoint could again serve as a universal reset. Crucially, rewriting history would be a neat way of allowing Batman to be recast without causing massive continuity problems. If Reeve opts for a younger Batman, for example, there's no issue; the timeline has simply been rewritten.
If Variety's report is accurate, then Flashpoint will likely serve as a stepping-off point for Affleck. He's had a troubled experience as the Dark Knight, with fans reacting to his original casting with disdain. Although Affleck's performance in Batman V Superman swiftly won them over, the poor critical reception of the DCEU to date seems to have hit Affleck hard. It comes as no surprise that he's moving on, but we'll hopefully get to see him (at least) one last time.
MORE: How Does WB Fix Its DC Movie Problem?
Source: Variety
