Ben Affleck News: Warner Bros. Confirms Actor Will Write, Direct, and Star in Solo "Batman" Movie
After weeks of speculation, it has been finally confirmed that a standalone "Batman" movie starring Ben Affleck is really happening. The confirmation has been made by Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
"We're excited to be working with Ben Affleck on a standalone 'Batman' film," said Tsujihara as reported by Collider.
Apart from confirming the standalone "Batman" movie, earlier speculations that Affleck will also direct the film that he is set to star in has also been validated. A few weeks ago, it was reported that Affleck was already done with the "Batman" script, and this added noise to the buzz that, indeed, a solo "Batman" movie is in the pipeline.
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Affleck is an Oscar awardee for Best Original Screenplay for the movie "Good Will Hunting."
Ironically, when Warner Bros. first announced way back in 2013 that Affleck would be the latest actor to don the bat suit, the Internet burst with negative comments from fans of the DC superhero who were not in favor of the move. Prior to the announcement, Warner Bros. already warned Affleck of a possible backlash from those who would not be convinced of their upcoming announcement about him being picked for the role then. Thinking that he could handle the negative criticisms, he did not heed the advice to stay away from the Internet for a while and read the comment section of an online news article announcing his casting.
"I looked at the first comment and it says 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' And I was done! We're going to be Luddites for a while," Affleck shared.
Despite the still-showing "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" generating negative reviews, fans and critics alike have credited Affleck's awe-inspiring portrayal of Batman in the movie. He has not only silenced his detractors then; he turned them into "Batfleck" fans, too.
Apart from the just-confirmed standalone "Batman" movie, the actor will don the bat suit, at least, three more times via the upcoming Warner Bros. and DC films "Suicide Squad"---where he plays a cameo---and two "Justice League" movies, which will be helmed anew by "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" director Zack Snyder.
With Superman's death in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," Affleck's Batman will lead the role of gathering the would-be members of Justice League in the upcoming eponymous movie. This is proof to the importance of Affleck's Batman in the DC Cinematic Universe, which, at one point in time, was questioned by his detractors.
