Originally published February 9, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
Before Affleck departed the director’s chair and the script fell into other hands, The Batman was initially set to feature The Joker among other villains.
So yeah, here were are again, the saga that never ends. After learning that The Batman won’t be released until 2019 and that the search for a new director is on, details are emerging, thanks to Forbes, about what might have been for the Batman solo movie.
It’s hard to tell what’s been going on over at WB and perhaps it’s better not knowing at all. At this point it would just be nice to see a movie. But Forbes has been trying to make sense of it all and have uncovered a few details about the much troubled film.
Reporting that the script is undergoing extensive rewrites – or possibly scrapped completely – an intriguing excerpt says the following about the film’s initial villains.
“The story for The Batman originally included the assassin Deathstroke as a main villain, with Joe Manganiello cast in the role, as well as a few other likely villainous appearances by characters including the Joker, according to sources familiar with the project. Jared Leto, who portrayed the Joker in Suicide Squad, has for months expressed his displeasure about the removal of substantial portions of his performance from the final cut of the film, raising questions about whether he would return to the role in future movies. He seems to have softened his stance lately and appears interested in a possible return, but whether he will ultimately be part of The Batman or Gotham City Sirens remains to be seen”.
How accurate any of this, we will perhaps never know, but the story continues and perhaps one day we will get to the bottom of just what is happening. Maybe it will make for an interesting documentary.
