After it was reported that Warner Bros. planned to “usher Ben Affleck out of the role of Batman”, fans rejoiced everywhere when the actor put it to rest – and was very upfront about it at the San Diego Comic Con Justice League panel:
“Let me be clear,” said Affleck. “Batman is the greatest f–king part in the world. I am thrilled to do it.”
Afterwards, he went a little more in depth with EW, beginning with why he left the director’s chair for ‘The Batman’:
“Trying to do that, and direct, would probably be too much. Something would be compromised. I think it came off, optically, to the broader world, like lack of interest or enthusiasm. When in fact I love this character. I think getting Matt Reeves to come in and do it is really, really exciting. Matt hasn’t really unveiled his full vision yet. He wanted to wait until Apes came out, and he was obviously consumed with that. So I’m looking forward to hearing what his story is.”
He continued:
“Warners has been working on it, making sure we’re getting it right. That’s the partnership you definitely want. With Wonder Woman, they really hit a home run. With [Justice League], I think we’ve found the tone, and found the flavor of it. I’d love to do it as long as they’ll have me. Eventually it’ll be somebody else, and I’m sure they’ll get somebody great. But while I’m doing it, I’m going to do the best job I can, and really appreciate how lucky I am.”
So there you have it, DC fans. Ben Affleck will be Batman for as long as Warner Bros. wants him to.
If the Justice League footage from yesterday is anything to go on, hopefully, it’ll be for a really long time.