Ben Affleck Warns That He Might Not Do ‘The Batman’ After All

It has been rather hard to keep up with the progress of Ben Affleck’s Batman script. Earlier this month, Affleck seemed to suggest that everything was finally in place for the film to shoot in 2017, while Warner Bros even appeared to reveal that it would be released in 2018.

However, Ben Affleck has now informed the Guardian that the script for The Batman, a title that’s set to be altered, is still not complete and that he’s even willing to drop out of the project if they don’t get it completely right. When he was asked about the state of The Batman, Affleck made it clear that he wants to work on the blockbuster, but made sure to detail his caveats, too.

Affleck explained.

“That’s the idea. But it’s not a set thing and there’s no script. If it doesn’t come together in a way I think is really great I’m not going to do it.”

It’s becoming harder and harder to know exactly where both Ben Affleck and Warner Bros are with The Batman. So let’s get to the basics. Shortly after the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, Patrick Whitesell, Ben Affleck’s agent, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the actor was only contracted to do Justice League One and Two and hadn’t signed up for a solo Batman outing yet.

At the same time, though, Patrick Whitesell made it clear that Affleck was so intent on doing his own Batman film that he’d started to write his own script, which still needed polishing. Patrick Whitesell remarked.

“[After Batman v Superman] he’s contracted to do at least Justice League One and Two, so at least three times wearing the cape… There’s a script that he’s written that is a really cool [Batman] idea, so that’s out there as an option.”

Then in June, Ben Affleck confirmed to a group of journalists on the set for Justice League, via Collider, that Warner Bros. had indeed set a date for The Batman. But he also again pointed out that he wasn’t going to rush the film for release if the script wasn’t completely right. Especially since, as he joked, he’s rushed into productions when the script wasn’t right before and then instantly regretted it. Ben Affleck explained.

“I think they have a date for it. Although, I don’t know if I would necessarily be able to make that date because I don’t have a script that’s ready yet. My timetable is I’m not going to make a movie until there’s a script that I think is good because I’ve been on the end of the things when you make movies when you have a script that’s not good yet and it doesn’t pan out.”

As recently as October, when Ben Affleck was out chatting to news outlets to promote The Accountant, the Argo and Gone Baby Gone filmmaker once again reiterated to E News that Batman’s script wasn’t up to the standard that he wanted and that he wasn’t going to be rushed into making the film.

Affleck declared.

“There is no Batman movie happening yet, we’re still trying to figure it out, you know, get the script and budget and all that stuff.”

At this point, it’s problem become clear that there are some slight issues with the script for The Batman, which has been written by Affleck and Geoff Johns. However considering the poor critical response to Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Suicide Squad, with the latter especially being criticised because of its disjointed rhythm and choppy editing, it’s understandable why Ben Affleck wants to take his time with The Batman. Especially since its success both critically and financially could ultimately decide whether the DC Extended Universe sinks or swims.

[Featured Image by Warner Bros]