Rumors about Ben Affleck taking an early leave of the Batman role have been going around since January, when Affleck said of The Batman, “If it doesn’t come together in a way I think is really great I’m not going to do it.” Later that month, he announced he wouldn’t be directing the movie. Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) signed to direct with a new script instead of the one Affleck wrote, which didn’t help quell the rumors. Affleck seemed to deny them at San Diego Comic-Con, but then they came around again. Then Affleck’s brother Casey stoked the rumors before later saying he wasn’t being serious.
Well, Ben Affleck is now stoking the rumors himself during a couple of interviews promoting this weekend’s opening of Justice League. In an interview with USA Today this week, Affleck said The Batman is “something I’m contemplating,” later adding, “You don’t do it forever, so I want to find a graceful and cool way to segue out of it.” It seems early to already be thinking about how to end his run, but he does seem burnt out on Batman-related questions. “This is the one movie people have really been asking me about as I just go through my life,” Affleck told USA Today.
An an interview with ExtraTV last week, he also sounded unsure about how long he’ll be playing the character. When asked if he’ll portray Batman in two more movies after Justice League, Affleck said, “I don’t know about that. We’ll see what the future holds.”
On the other hand, he could just be waiting to see how Justice League performs at the box office before getting his hopes up. (Hello darkness, my old friend.)
Affleck also expressed some optimism, telling USA Today, “We certainly are in need of heroes in 2017. There’s a lot of stuff going on in the world, from natural to man-made disasters, and it’s really scary. Part of the appeal of this genre is wish fulfillment: Wouldn’t it be nice if there was somebody who can save us from all this, save us from ourselves, save us from the consequences of our actions and save us from people who are evil?”
Indeed. And something else we’re in need of in 2017? A movie about Batman being rescued from a crowded elevator…
Very excited to see this movie about Batman in a crowded elevator pic.twitter.com/pxeoOFWLbG
— Bridger Winegar (@bridger_w) November 3, 2017
(Via USA Today, Bridger Winegar, CBM, and ExtraTV)