UPDATE: As suspected, it seems that Casey Affleck was just having a little fun here, as his rep has confirmed that he was “not speaking from a place of firsthand knowledge”, while Ben Affleck’s rep also confirmed that “he’ll continue to be Batman as long as the studio will have him”. Original story follows…
The “will he or won’t he” saga of Ben Affleck returning for The Batman has been going on for quite a while now. Since last December, at the very least. The stars future involving the cowl was up in the air last winter only to be squashed by Ben Affleck himself. Rumors arose once again regarding the actor’s involvement only a month ago… again, only to be shot down by Batfleck at the San Diego Comic-Con.
Now? Casey Affleck – Ben Affleck’s brother – has stirred up a whole new controversy during an interview with WEEI Sports Radio. The younger Affleck talked about Ben’s performance as The Dark Knight, and also dropped a potential bomb:
“I thought he was an OK Batman. No, I thought he was great. He was great. He’s a hero, so he had something to channel and work with there. But he’s not going to do that movie, I don’t think. Sorry to say. Is that breaking news? Because I was just kind of making that up, I don’t know.”
Now, let it be said right away that anything coming from Casey Affleck’s mouth should be taken with a grain of salt. Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, and Matt Damon have publicly messed with each other for years. Could this be true? Sure. Casey Affleck could easily be employing damage control. However, given the brothers amusement at pranking each other, this could just be sibling antics taken to the next level.
Regardless of who stars, Matt Reeves is in as director, and the movie may, or may not include Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke. Also, Reeves has stated that he wants to make a “Hitchcockian” noir-driven detective-style Batman film. There is no set release date for The Batman at this time.
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Originally published August 17, 2017. Updated December 18, 2019.
