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Ben Affleck Set for Multiple Movies as Batman + 'Live By Night' Delayed

by Ethan Anderton
August 26, 2013
Source: THR

After the big news from Warner Bros. revealed Ben Affleck as their Batman for Zack Snyder's Man of Steel sequel featuring The Dark Knight in a pivotal role, the studio ended up having to replace the filmmaker on their adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand with Crazy Heart director Scott Cooper. But that's not the only shift in the works for the studio's future slate with Affleck as a filmmaker. Their gestating adaptation of Dennis Lehane's Live By Night is delayed 2015 with Affleck's acting schedule, which includes Gone Girl for David Fincher, not giving him enough time to prepare and shoot the film for 2014.

According to THR, Affleck will shoot Gone Girl from September to February of next year. Then he'll immediately transition to Superman vs. Batman from February to August, and then get Live By Night ready to shoot in the fall for release in 2015. He's probably going to be pretty exhausted after all that, but Warner Bros. will continue to keep him busy because Affleck is signed for multiple movies as The Caped Crusader, and we're betting that one of the bonuses of getting Affleck aboard the film as Batman is that the studio is still hoping he'll direct Justice League, especially since they offered it to him once before.

We're anxious to see how Warner Bros. builds their DC Comics universe, and whether or not it can shake a stick at the impressive run that Marvel has had bringing their comic books to the big screen. As for Affleck as Batman, this writer is skeptical, but is intrigued to see what Snyder and Affleck have in store for the character, especially since they "will create an entirely new incarnation of the character" and the director and actor have talked about the story and character as early as the beginning of this year. Since there have been rumblings of a grizzly, seasoned Batman, we're hoping for the best. Thoughts?

Find more posts: Casting, Development, Movie News

39 Comments

I still think a Affleck Justice League movie is a fantastic idea. I'll reserve judgment on the whole Batman casting, but as a director, Affleck has become a consistently solid story teller and director.

Phillip Gockel on Aug 26, 2013

agreed, you are a smart cookie

Thomas Stalcup Jr on Aug 26, 2013

Ben Affleck will play the Robert Downey Jr/Iron Man role. Gettin' the team together!

Tey on Aug 26, 2013

I don't know about being the one to get the team together, but I'm quite sure that Batman could be the 'Iron Man' to Superman's 'Captain America'. Meaning you have the sort of moralistic, all around good and classically heroic character who has superhuman abilities...and then you have the edgier, 'cooler' character who doesn't technically have any super-powers.

Chris Groves on Aug 26, 2013

Actually I heard...Now bare with me on us this but I heard Zack will possibly direct JL and Ben will play Batman in a couple of solo films that he will direct himself. That to me actually makes a lot of sense but it's still early! I'm very anxious though to see how this all turns out!

Nathan Williams on Aug 26, 2013

I think Batman Begins and The Dark Knight(Not The Dark Knight Rises) should be retroactively included in this 'timeline', even if it's vaguely. Hear me out. This will be an older, experienced Batman. They likely won't delve into his origins, and I don't think there is much of a point of RE-telling his origins, especially when you are unlikely to re-tell his origins much better than Begins did. Beyond that, in the grand scheme of the DC Film Universe, I'd rather not have Batman's first appearance be in a Superman movie, with no proper introduction/origin film. So just come out and say 'Yeah, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight form the general history of this new Batman' and leave it at that. Like what Superman Returns was to the first two Superman films. That way, Zimmer doesn't need to develop a new Batman theme, you can possibly get Caine back for Alfred, you can throw a few winks and nods to the first two Nolan films...but since this is Batman years after those stories, any differences in character/style could be completely justified. So yeah, let Batman Begins and The Dark Knight be part of this universe. The Dark Knight trilogy as it's own can still stand on it's own as a self-contained, complete story, but BB and TDK can serve double duty as the early years of two different versions of Batman, both the version we see in Rises and the version we see in DC Film Universe.

Chris Groves on Aug 26, 2013

I think you have an interesting idea here but the thing I think could work best is to have his past peppered thru his solo films. Everyone and their dog knows Batman's origins by now. And if Ben is signed on for more films as the Caped Crusader then at some point they need to at least ACKNOWLEDGE where/why he is doing this. Even if its just a monologue with flashbacks of something.

Cinephile3 on Aug 26, 2013

See, I say why bother with that when they have a perfectly good origin story already? Not just "perfectly good", Batman Begins is a GREAT origin story. I think worrying about establishing a 'new backstory' instead of focusing on moving forward and telling new stories was one of the things that really held back 'The Incredible Hulk'...which would have benefit well from just being a sequel that focused on moving the character in a new direction. G.I. Joe: Retaliation didn't focus on trying to be a 'reboot', it just focused on being a new film that took the series in it's own direction. Not that either GI Joe movie was very good, but the sequel was a step up and it was preferable to them attempting some 'reboot' of the franchise. Reboots are a bit done to death these days. Just own the history and allow the series to go in a new direction. Like Green Lantern, no reason not to say 'Yeah, that movie sucked, but Green Lantern will be back in Justice League, and it will be amazing, and Mark Strong will return down the road as Sinestro, as a villain, and he'll be great' and take it from there. They didn't reboot Star Trek after 'The Motion Picture' let down virtually everyone, they just focused on making a great sequel.

Chris Groves on Aug 26, 2013

Wasn't that 100% exactly what The Incredible Hulk was? It's not like it showed the whole lead-up to the gamma experiments and his first transformations again. That all happened in the past, and they only showed their version over the opening credits. They just opened with him on the run after undisclosed events. It was a sequel taking it in its own direction - it was just a sequel to an imaginary movie to replace the one nobody liked. Perect idea to me. I agree with pretty much everything you're saying, but I think that Superman ever landing in Nolan's Gotham would remove the most important reason that those movies brought people in; barring some serious nutjobs, Gotham could be your city - it was real. Green Lantern flying in ends that immediately. You need a Batman world that can accept the outside supernatural forces, and Nolan's really cannot.

OfficialJab on Aug 27, 2013

That is an excellent point. Me personally, I include Hulk 03 in my marathons...but the general consensus from most is that Hulk 03 is to be ignored and TIH is the only film that 'counts' for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So if they decided to play things a little loose relative to BB and TDK, I'd be cool with that too. I don't think it's a big deal...I mean, if you just subscribe to the theory that Nolan's first two Batman films occur before any of these other characters show up...of course it seems like aliens and etc wouldn't make sense, it's in a 'real world' but Man of Steel was great at establishing a 'real world' where Superman also came to light in the public consciousness. Green Lantern is quite silly and much like a cartoon, it's style is never going to be in line with the others...but I say just 'own it' and move on, instead of worrying about going out of their way to ignore it or make a new version of it.

Chris Groves on Aug 27, 2013

I wouldn't say they should be obligated to own it, Batman can be presented in so many different ways, and this one was crazy successful, but they should experiment. Some guy up there said they're looking at going with Batman Beyond, which I haven't read as 'confirmed' anywhere, only rumoured, but I would ADORE Warner for going that route. Batman Beyond is goddam amazing.

OfficialJab on Aug 27, 2013

I agree...but I think perhaps that could be further down the line. I say give this 'DC Film Universe' a solid chance and over time Batman Beyond will come. I mean, if the rumor that Affleck truly signed on for 13 films is true...then if you just humor the point and picture them doing multiple Batman and Justice League films, on top of Batman/Wayne popping up in other films...and eventually have a hope of getting to Batman Beyond, witch Affleck(in makeup) playing old man Wayne.....then the monumental size of a 13 film deal starts becoming a lot more realistic. I'm inclined NOT to think that all of a sudden WB, who has had a 'one film at a time, make it up as we go along' approach up to this point would finally have gotten their sh!t together and developed a long-term plan...but who knows?

Chris Groves on Aug 28, 2013

Great points but Warner Bros. has no intentions to keep Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne for long since it's already been confirmed that they want Batman Beyond character Terry McGuiness to be in the Justice League movie where Bruce Wayne will be behind the computer directing him on what to do. The next solo films that he will be carrying on with is probably going to be about his need to retire because his body can't handle it anymore and his encounter with Superman probably worn out his body even more. What I'm saying is I don't think there will be a need to reference his origins but to build upon the origins of Terry McGuiness going forward and who knows they might hint at the character in the Man of Steel sequel. Another thing is why are people assuming another Alfred will show up? If this is an aged Bruce Wayne how can Alfred still be around continuing the hectic duties he's been doing since Bruce was a child?

BinaryChaos on Aug 26, 2013

Pretty soon you'll hear people say, "Affleck is Batman."

nate on Aug 26, 2013

ALSO, I say allow Green Lantern to be part of this universe. YES, it was quite a bad film, and stylistically was much more cartoony and silly than the likes of BB, TDK, and MOS. BUT it did some valuable things. It introduced Green Lantern and told his origin story, and set up Sinestro as a big bad. By all means re-cast Reynolds(I think Mark Strong as Sinestro would still be good though)...but let that movie exist in this universe. What's the thing everyone is giving WB crap for 'You aren't introducing all of the characters on their own and then bringing them together'. Well, if you include Green Lantern in this 'series', that's just one more character they have introduced that they must not worry about re-introducing. They wouldn't need to bother delving deep into his back-story in Justice League, and they won't have to 're-boot' the character and cover his origins again, or worry about not doing an origin story because the origin story failed. I say, don't let Green Lantern or Batman go the way of the Hulk. Don't have a shared film universe and let these characters not have origin stories that 'count' in that universe. Take the good with the bad, allow Batman Begins to function as Batman's origins, and Green Lantern to function as Green Lantern's origins, and just let it be. Own the bad of GL 2011 and say 'Yeah, it was bad, but it introduced Green Lantern, and all the films going forward will be better'

Chris Groves on Aug 26, 2013

I'm definitely inclined to agree with you but the only point I can bring up as a counter is look at Ghost Rider. His first movie was shit and a lot of fans (myself included) said "The movies from here on out will be better" I'm all for keeping GL in this universe with his first movie as origins because it did do a lot of things correctly besides introducing GL and Sinestro. It introduced Amanda Waller (and yeeeeeeah it was forced but still let's focus on good things), it showed that the universe was full of life besides Earth, it introduced the quadrant of the galaxy that Atrocitiou

Cinephile3 on Aug 26, 2013

Atrocitous is held. And sorry for the broken response. The mobile response is being all choppy and junk.

Cinephile3 on Aug 26, 2013

You make a good point with Ghost Rider. Although unfortunately he didn't have the same kind of situation. The Incredible Hulk had a pretty mixed response, but they didn't ignore it, the Banner/Hulk in The Avengers was the same one...and they said they made a point to use that movie to make him 'cool again', and now everyone loves the character and can't wait for him to get a solo film again. With Green Lantern, his next appearance isn't going to be another Green Lantern movie, it's not going to be the case of 'oh, the first sucked, why would I see a second one?' because his next appearance will be in The Justice League, where in theory each character will have their stand-out moments and come off very well. It would elevate GL's status and create interest in him getting his own film. Ghost Rider didn't have any team-up movie to help his stock out, and also, those in charge of the sequel were just not the right kind of people to make something that was an improvement over the first.

Chris Groves on Aug 26, 2013

Look. Ben has made some shitty choices in the past and some in the present, like most people who have played Batman (I'm looking at you Val Kilmer) and we may never entirely forgive for Daredevil (which I mostly blame on the director and Marvel whoring out) but look at his choices lately. Not only is he a great screenwriter but a phenomenal director. AND he has put in some pretty great performances in his movies (and others like State of Play and Hollywoodland). AND AND he was once tapped to direct Justice League (but said he wanted to focus on directing/starring in his own films) before WB started getting their shit together in the DC Cinematic Universe. AND AND AND he said he never wanted to play a costumed hero again because he felt ridiculous in Daredevil. SO. For the summation of that last section, Ben has the potential to be a GREAT Batman, could probably help work the script for this movie, aaaaaaand??? Anyone? HE COULD FUCKING DIRECT JUSTICE LEAGUE. I think this is a solid decision so far. But who knows? He could take a giant Hollywood sized poop on the best super hero ever. Only time will tell.

Cinephile3 on Aug 26, 2013

totally agree. people were skeptical about christian bale as batman. people were skeptical about daniel craig as james bond. people were skeptical about chris evans as captain america. you will never know until you see the movie. do not make your decisions prematurely on how you feel about his take on batman. besides, if your skeptical and the movie is awesome, you'll only be more suprised!

Alex Williams on Aug 26, 2013

FACT. Also I think there has only been one time that casting was announced for a comic book character and I was like "WTF" And that was Shaq as Steel.

Cinephile3 on Aug 26, 2013

And people are way too skeptical (and irrationally angry) over Ben. Give it a chance I say. I never understand why people go completely ape-shit over a casting call. It's like their entire life was completely ruined because a producer, director, and casting director agreed on something that didn't include them. Anyway...

Quanah on Aug 27, 2013

Well said

Llewyn Davis on Aug 26, 2013

Ben may just end up being the definitive Batman. After his performances in two or three movies, no one will want anybody else to play the Dark Knight.

DJRickyV on Aug 28, 2013

And he could direct the solo Batman films as well. It could be quite a sight to behold.

Cinephile3 on Aug 28, 2013

Ben could direct and star in the next batman movies, and he and snyder could co-direct justice league.

qweqwu2 on Aug 26, 2013

People look at the Marvel and DC Universe's teams and think that they'll be very similar in terms of filming and quality. They don't look at the two franchises like they need to. Marvel has always been way more Sci-Fi than anything else. It also seems like most of their superheroes have doctorates (Dr. Banner, Dr. Richards, Dr. Pym, Doctor Strange). Tony Stark may not have a doctorate, but he's Popular Mechanics Coverboy. These are the future archetypes. DC on the other hand is way more mythological, elemental and primordial. What made The Avengers so good was A) a writer/director who understands the characters so deeply and is great at delivering them that way. and B) It's ability to be fun, quirky, but also legitimize eachother. Playing to the strength of the characters and the comics they come from. If we're to buy into a Justice League film, then we shouldn't be looking at the Avengers. The JLA with Avengers attitude just doesn't work.The only way that can happen is if the characters play to their strengths. In terms of humor this means Batman has the dry wit, Superman's confidence and smirk, Wonder Woman being out of the loop on most things but able to make fun at other peoples expense, Green Lantern's typical attitude (are they sticking with Reynolds or could they be going the John Stewart direction?) Martian Manhunters wisdom mixed in with learning earthling jokes. The only one who can get away with the constant sarcasm and jokes is The Flash. In terms of attitudes, DC characters typically come with a huge amount of baggage. Peter Parker's parents may have died in a car wreck, but they weren't shot in front of him (not even Ben), they didn't die on an exploding planet. This post has gone on too long, but my point remains. DC should play to the strengths of decent mythological stories and stick to the theme of their individual characters.

Dresden on Aug 26, 2013

Stark started MIT @ 15 and holds Masters in both electrical engineering and physics. (just fyi) ;P

avconsumer2 on Aug 26, 2013

Well there you have it. Lol, thanks for that.

Dresden on Aug 26, 2013

With everyone being hesitant/disappointed with Affleck being Batman (along with whoever else may play the remaing JL members) and with DC adapted movies most of the time having a bad turn over rate, I doubt DC will ever shake a stick with Marvel. Marvel's always going to reign supreme IMO. But definitely good luck to DC (I hope it becomes solid)

JBrotsis on Aug 26, 2013

I just hope he doesn't do Bale's awful "Bat Growl" voice.

cobrazombie on Aug 27, 2013

The point of Nolan's Batman is that it's realistic. Without the growl his voice would give away his identity... If you disagree with it then you disagree with the whole premise.

Red4 on Aug 28, 2013

Ok, but with all his bat gadgets why not have a voice changer? The gravel voice was a bit absurd...

Twerpo on Aug 28, 2013

And cover his mouth? The voice may be absurd, but necessary if someone decided to actually do that with his life, which is absurd to begin with...

Red4 on Aug 28, 2013

Zack Snyder is THE MAN when it comes to creating epic cinematic visuals, but I doubt his ability to direct truly compelling performances from his actors. I love and respect Ben Affleck's work as both an actor and director, but I shudder at the thought of him being Batman. I just hope they both prove me wrong. p.s. Liev Schreiber should be playing Batman!! Bring it on critics....

Chewy Gomez on Aug 27, 2013

Karl Urban woulda been cool

Christopher Philip Cinquegrano on Aug 27, 2013

I was having a conversation about potential Batmen with a friend and they brought up Matt Bomer. Which......I didn't really have anything negative to say about.

Cinephile3 on Aug 28, 2013

Affleck just seems like not enough of a psychopath to be batman. He seems lazy and peaceful. Batman is conflicted, sure, but not sleepy. I want to know that Ben has killed someone.

fred on Aug 30, 2013

Keanu Reeves seems like a different, older yet awesome Batman dont you think?

Brian Smith on Sep 2, 2013

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