This likely is just a coincidence, right? DC Films fans who are fired up for the Snyder Cut of Zack Snyder’s Justice League coming to HBO Max in 2021 needn’t read too deeply into this Tweet shared by WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, in which he shares a Gotham screensaver that just happens to be from Ben Affleck’s version of Batman’s city. It’s probably just the first image that he saw on a Google search, right? Well, Batfleck fans think differently.
For starters, there’s the innocuous Tweet shared by Jason Kilar this morning, giving Batman fans a stellar backdrop that advertises WarnerMedia in the middle of its cityscape. And why now? Warner Bros. holds the rights to the Gotham crimefighter, so it makes sense for them to advertise Gotham as a “destination” from time to time, so that fans can get excited about all of the different stories told in that crime-infested haven.
And yet, Batman fans who have been clamoring for the restoration of the SnyderVerse, and the return of Ben Affleck’s Batman specifically, took notice of the Bat Signal, and the ACE Chemicals building, and saw that this city is definitely from the universe populated by Affleck’s Batman, and David Ayer’s Suicide Squad.
Specifically, the image was used in an advertisement for Turkish Airlines, during the run up to the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Coincidence, right? Fans don’t believe so:
These same fans, who tasted success in their campaign to get HBO Max and WarnerMedia to Release the Snyder Cut, have turned their attention to Ben Affleck’s Batman, or Batfleck, as he’s emotionally known. To them, Affleck’s solo Batman movie was one of the projects that was damaged when Snyder walked away from Justice League in 2017 and WB changed course. These fans know that Affleck had a good Batman script in place, and they are holding out hope that HBO Max will swing to Batfleck’s rescue, the way that the streaming service did for Snyder.
Will it happen? Stranger things have occurred. Ben Affleck has signed on to reprise his role of Bruce Wayne and the Caped Crusader in The Flash movie that’s coming to theaters, so he’s officially back in “the family.” Also, WarnerMedia does appear ready to ramp up its DC content, greenlighting a Green Lantern Corps television show, but also putting resources into a Gotham City Police Department procedural that will develop Matt Reeves’ Gotham outside of The Batman. Could that show conflict with the opportunity for Ben Affleck to return?
For now, we’ll wait and see what comes of this. It’s very possible that WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar just saw an image he liked. But so far, he’s been very social media savvy, and he certainly knows how invested the SnyderVerse fans are. November 17 would be a fantastic time to make an announcement, don’t you think?
