It’s been a long and complicated road for the DC Extended Universe’s first solo Batman film. Although Bruce Wayne had a starring role in both Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, the character was originally set to next appear in a solo film written and directed by Ben Affleck. However, it was then widely reported that Affleck was cutting down his involvement with the film: first, he dropped out of writing to focus and directing, and eventually, he dropped out of directing to focus on acting.
Now, months later, Matt Reeves is both writing and directing the film, which is said to focus on a younger take on Batman — meaning that another actor might be tapped to play a younger Affleck. But while we know next to nothing about Reeves’ upcoming Batman film, it sounds like Affleck’s scrapped script might have been something fans would have loved to see.
On Twitter, DCEU storyboard artist (and DC Animated Universe director) Jay Oliva got involved in a conversation about Ben Affleck’s Batman script. “The original Affleck script was the best Batman script I’ve ever read,” Oliva wrote. “Ben had a kick-ass story and I believe that the audience and fans would have loved it.”
Sadly, fans will never get to enjoy Affleck’s work. This script will simply have to join the infamous Zack Snyder cut of Justice League as something that fans will never get to see. Maybe one day Affleck will talk more about the movie that he abandoned. For now, we have the Matt Reeves version to look forward to, which should start shooting by next summer.
Source: Jay Oliva/Twitter
