OPINION – The Status of Batman on Film Will Be Updated When it Is

The Question: “Why hasn’t Warner Bros. made an announcement about Ben Affleck’s future as Batman?!”

The Answer: “Because they don’t have to right now.”

Since before JUSTICE LEAGUE hit theaters a few months ago in November of 2018, I have been getting this question here on BOF on a weekly — sometimes daily — basis.

Why?  Because there’s been scuttlebutt for quite a while now that Ben Affleck’s last turn as Batman has already happened in the aforementioned JUSTICE LEAGUE movie.

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Additionally, the rumor that director Matt Reeves has met with actors about the role of Batman in his (hopefully) upcoming solo/standalone Batman film — specifically, Jake Gyllenhaal (who recently denied he’s going to be the next cinematic Batman) — only adds to fan’s desire to know what the hell is going on.

Look, I get it, totally.  I run a website called “Batman On Film,” so it’s good for, ahem, “business” if news pertaining to one were a bit more active.  Plus, I’m a Batman fan too and I’m as anxious as anyone for details.  And yes, it sorta sucks that we’re in the most quiet/dead era of Batman on film news in nearly two decades.  However, let me remind you dear BOF readers that the build-up to a new Batman movie almost as fun as watching it when it’s released.

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The bottom line is that WB doesn’t need to announce anything about the next Batman movie until they need to announce something about the next Batman movie.  And before anyone plays the “Well, they owe it to the fans!” card, uh no, they do not.  The only thing they owe me, you, and Batman fans is to properly develop the next Batman movie (i.e. let Matt Reeves alone and let him do his thing), and get Batman on film back on track after the worst/most embarrassing cinematic portrayal of Batman (JUSTICE LEAGUE) since 1997.

Plus, don’t we need a little break from Batman on film anyway?

I suspect that once Matt Reeves is finished with his script, turns it in to the the studio, gets the green light (hopefully) and is ready to go into production, we’ll hear something about casting…as well as the (probably already decided) fate of The Batfleck too. – Bill “Jett” Ramey