The DC live-action universe has had a fascinating life in theaters, full of peaks and valleys. Zack Snyder kickstarted the DCEU with his projects Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, before eventually leaving Justice League and the shared universe altogether. Justice League's critical and box office failure resulted in Warner Bros. pivoting the DCEU, and Ben Affleck hanging up his cowl and cape for good. And now he's finally broken his silence on Robert Pattinson's casting in Matt Reeves' The Batman.
The Batman has had a very long gestation period, as its development and release was delayed a number of times. The movie was originally envisioned to give Ben Affleck his first solo movie as Gotham's Protector, although his departure from the DCEU put a wrench in those concepts. Robert Pattinson was eventually brought on to lead Matt Reeves' all-star cast, and Affleck responded to his replacement saying:
I think Robert's a great actor, he's going to do great.
Talk about classy. Looks like Ben Affleck isn't feeling competitive about passing the Batman torch to Robert Pattinson. On the contrary, he recognizes what a strong actor the Twilight alum is, and is certain R Pats is going to kill it when he rises as the Dark Knight.
Ben Affleck's comments come from his recent conversation with ReelBlend co-host Jake Hamilton about his new movie The Way Back. Eventually the conversation turned to his tenure in the DC Extended Universe, which featured three performances at Bruce Wayne/Batman (including his brief Suicide Squad cameos). That's when he got honest about the new Bruce Wayne heading to Gotham City in The Batman.
Moviegoers have been curious about how Matt Reeves' The Batman will introduce Robert Pattinson's version, and how/if it'll be connected to the greater DC Extended Universe. While those answers haven't been provided just yet, fans can rest easy knowing that Ben Affleck is supportive of the movie's next journey. Including letting a new actor ascend as the DCEU's Batman.
Later on in his conversation with Jake Hamilton, Ben Affleck further discussed why he left Batman behind. Basically it was for the benefit of the project and the beloved character. As he put it,
The movie deserves to be made by someone whose dying to do it and can't wait, and that wasn't me at the time, so I moved on.
As sad as it was to see Ben Affleck depart the DCEU so soon, it's refreshing to hear what went into his decision to leave Batman behind. The Batman will have a ton of pressure associated with it, as the Dark Knight is arguably the most popular superhero of all time. And getting involved in Gotham City without truly having your heart would have likely resulted in a disappointing final product.
Ben Affleck's The Way Back with hit theaters on March 6th, and The Batman is expected to arrive June 25th, 2021. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
