Last month, directorMatt Reeveswas fending off rumors that he was exiting Warner Bros.' stand-alone movieThe Batman, which still has Ben Affleck attached to star, and now the filmmaker has offered a new, yet very brief update. The filmmaker has yet to reveal any specifics about the project, but when asked by a fan, “how it is going onThe Batman,” the director offered a rather optimistic response. Here’s what he had to say when asked how his work onThe Batmanhas been going.
“Really, really well, thanks! I could not be more excited!”
While that response may not be as specific as some fans would like, it does indicate that progress is being made. Whether that progress has anything to do withBen Affleck remaining a part of the franchiseremains to be seen. There have been no shortage of rumors about his involvement in the franchise, with the latest report from February revealing that the actor is not quite yet ready to “commit”, despite starring inBatman v Superman: Dawn of JusticeandJustice League, along with a brief cameo inSuicide Squad. If he does back away, there are already actors lining up to replace him.
There have been reports that Matt Reeves wants Jake Gyllenhaal to replace Ben Affleck as The Batman, while Jon Hamm, who worked with Ben Affleck onThe Town, has also expressed interest intaking on the iconic Caped Crusader. The most recent potential Batman candidate to surface is Karl Urban, who stated in an interview that he’s “open to all opportunities,” which would includeThe Batman, although he hasn’t been officially approached. There have also been rumors thatThe Batmanmay be set outside of the DCEU timeline, with Ben Affleck also dropping out ofFlashpointandSuicide Squad 2, where he was expected to return.
Ben Affleck was originally set to both star in and directThe Batman, while working from a script that heco-wrote with DC Films president Geoff Johns. Matt Reeves was brought in to direct, and it was later confirmed that he has completely scrapped the script that Affleck and Johns were working on, starting over from scratch. Ben Affleck had hinted in the past thatThe Batmanwas a completely original story, and while it features other comic book characters, it isn’t based on a specific story from the comics. Now that Matt Reeves is writing the script, it remains to be seen if that approach will change.
There had also been talk thatshooting would begin sometime this summer, although since there is no word on how far along Matt Reeves is on the script, or when his script may be complete, it’s tough to tell when filming may begin, or when Warner Bros. may releaseThe Batman. For now, though, Batman fans will have to take solace in knowing that Matt Reeves is still hard at work onThe Batman. Take a look at his tweet below, courtesy ofMatt Reeves Twitter.
