Ben Affleck has officially hung up the iconic cape and cowl. One of the notable faces of the DC Extended Universe will no longer be a part of the Justice League. Affleck went on the Jimmy Kimmel Live and confirmed to Kimmel and everyone that he will no longer play the Dark Knight.
There had already been speculation that Affleck would step down from the role after a tweet from Deadline.
On the show, Affleck explained why he was stepping down. “I tried to direct a version of it and worked with a really good screenwriter but just couldn’t come up with a version — I couldn’t crack it and so I thought it’s time for someone else to take a shot at it,” Affleck explained to Kimmel. “They got some really good people, so I’m excited.”
Matt Reeves (who worked on War of the Planet of the Apes) had stepped in as the director for The Batman, but there is still no word on who will try and pick up the cowl now that Affleck has moved on from the role. According to Deadline, The Batman will focus on a younger Bruce Wayne, a drastic difference to the older and weathered character they attempted to portray in the last few movies of the DCEU.
Warner Bros. Pictures
There is no news on how this change will affect the DCEU as well. With established and beloved figures such as Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), and more who knows how DC will incorporate this change.
As per the usual humor on Jimmy Kimmel Live, they gave a proper send-off for Affleck by having Guillermo dress as Robin, Batman’s sidekick. They also had a dummy dressed in the Dark Knight’s signature cape and cowl with the words Batfleck strewn in yellow on the back. A proper celebration to mark the end of Affleck’s run as Batman.