Warner Bros.
Prior to Ben Affleck’s apparent midlife existential crisis, he actually put on a hell of a performance as Bruce Wayne in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Sure, the film was far from perfect, but Affleck’s Batman was enticingly threatening as a version of the Caped Crusader at wit’s end (remember, he brutally murders, like, a bunch of people in this one). Not only that, but Batman v. Superman also included what’s likely the finest Batman action sequence on film to date.
However, following the massive failure that was Justice League, Warner Bros. reconsidered their approach to their DC Comics properties, which ultimately led to Affleck stepping away from both the director’s chair and the role of Batman entirely.
Now, with Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and Robert Pattinson locked in to reboot the franchise, the script for The Batman — set to be released on June 25, 2021 — has largely been rewritten. BUT, that said, if these reports about what the original story included are true, it’s a definitely a damn shame we never got to see this movie.
Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, cinematographer Robert Richardson — who was set to work with Affleck on The Batman — revealed some of the overarching details of the original script:
“He was going into the more insanity aspects…He was entering more into the Arkham, he’s going into where everyone was bad. That’s where we were going. I was very interested in that one. There was a script, but not a loved script. There was a lot of work he was doing to it to change it.”
Richardson also revealed that the film would’ve delved into the “darker” aspects of Batman’s psyche:
“Well, [Affleck] was going more into the insanity aspects. So I think you would’ve seen something a little darker than what we’ve seen in the past and more into the individual, who was inside Batman — what element may be sane and what element may actually not be sane. So he was entering into a little more of the Arkham, as you know, he’s going into where you keep everyone who was bad, everyone that shifted and Batman. And so that whole aspect was sort of, it was very fascinating to go to the darker side of Batman.”
Obviously, what makes the prospect of an Arkham Asylum-focused Batman film so exciting is the idea of the Dark Knight being locked in a building with his entire rogues’ gallery.
Given that Warner Bros. was trying to exponentially expand the DCEU — an approach they’ve since reconsidered — it stands to reason that the film would have introduced tons of iconic Batman villains such as Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Clayface, Poison Ivy, etc. … who knows, really. The possibilities could have been endless.
That said, Warner Bros. and DC ultimately made the right decision to trade in Ben Affleck for Reeves and Pattinson, as not only did Affleck seem totally mentally checked out of the role, but Reeves is an excellent director who brings a distinct and carefully crafted vision to all of his films.