The Batman solo film to feature young Batman, no Ben Affleck

[Crazedwraith]

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Finally! Confirmation that Matt Reeves' Dark Knight movie will not star boring Ben Affleck.

The Batman (not the confirmed final title) now has a release date – June 25, 2021, but no star. Reeves will be focussing on a younger Caped Crusader and his detective abilities. The movie will not be based on Frank Miller's classic origin tale Batman: Year One.

The original plans had Ben Affleck (who played Bats in Batman v Superman, Justice League and Suicide Squad) both starring and directing a solo movie as well as co-writing with Geoff Johns. Affleck gave up the director’s chair in 2017 for Cloverfield and Planet of the Apes' Matt Reeves but he was still expected to star. Now the movie is to feature a younger Dark Knight, Affleck has moved on.

Director Reeves gave some hints of this take on Batman to The Hollywood Reporter: "It's very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale. It's told very squarely on his shoulders, and I hope it's going to be a story that will be thrilling but also emotional. It's more Batman in his detective mode than we've seen in the films. The comics have a history of that. He's supposed to be the world's greatest detective, and that's not necessarily been a part of what the movies have been. I'd love this to be one where when we go on that journey of tracking down the criminals and trying to solve a crime, it's going to allow his character to have an arc so that he can go through a transformation.

So, who could play the younger Bruce Wayne/Batman? One name being touted is British actor Jack O'Connell. Share your suggestions in the comments below.

Not sure this is new news. It is interesting to see how much long the DCEU survives with so many side universes and spin-offs being down like the The Joker movie and this may be being separate? And of course the rise and fall of Ben Affleck's Batman. First people were skeptical then thought he was the best bit of BvS and SS, tipped to write and direct and now faded away again, presumably due to JL's failures.

Coupled with Henry Cavill leaving the Superman role and given that Aquaman's doing so well may be future DCEU and a JL2 if it ever gets done will concentrate on the lesser know heroes and not the big two.

[Elheru Aran]

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm kinda over Batman movies and ready to take a break from them for awhile. I certainly wouldn't mind more focus on the lesser known heroes like Green Lantern, maybe even B- and C-listers like Power Girl and Blue Beetle (Ted Kord version would be fun, but Jamie would have all the cool alien effects and such). Cyborg was regrettably flat in JL, but Flash had potential. Wonder Woman already has another movie coming out next year, I think.

I certainly wouldn't mind a riff along the lines of Justice League International or Justice League Europe. With a bit less Guy Gardner crap, mind you.

[TheFeniX]

God comic fans are the worst. You can almost see spittle coming out of the mouth on the line "Dark Knight movie will not star boring Ben Affleck."

Calling Affleck boring in a movie with Cavill and Godot is frankly hilarious. I haven't wasted much time on the Justice League movies, but what I've seen it's basically ranked Aquaman >>>>>>>>>>>> Flash > Bruce Wayne > Cyborg > Batman >>>>>>>>>>> Superman/WW.

The headbutt trading btw Supes and WW had to be the most hilarious shit.

Supes headbutts WW = WW makes a face that can only be described as "confused muted-annoyance."
WW headbutts Supes = Supes makes a face like he just caught a wiff of a bad fart.
Supes Super-headbutts WW into the ground and she makes both a face and a sound like she had a mild orgasm.

Aside from that: Godot looks confused in every scene. Cavill looks bored.

It's pretty much the most unintentionally hilarious scene I can recall off-hand. Aquaman steals the show and Affleck Batman in his suit looks.... awkward. Like he beefed up WAY to much for the part and the suit itself makes him look an over-buffed bodybuilder. He can't even stand naturally. However his scenes as Wayne (IMO) perfectly capture an older and beaten-up Batman who has seen and been through a lot of shit. He's almost totally out the door. He's fucking done. And putting together the JL gets some life breathed back into him.

But then Momoa comes in as Aquaman and just fucking stomps everyone in both charm and general screen presence. The man made SG: Atlantis remotely watchable. He's just that likable.

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm kinda over Batman movies and ready to take a break from them for awhile. I certainly wouldn't mind more focus on the lesser known heroes like Green Lantern, maybe even B- and C-listers like Power Girl and Blue Beetle (Ted Kord version would be fun, but Jamie would have all the cool alien effects and such). Cyborg was regrettably flat in JL, but Flash had potential. Wonder Woman already has another movie coming out next year, I think.

Yea well, the Reynolds movie basically murdered that idea as it was absolute trash.* I remember being super pissed when they had the Steppenwolf flashback and you see rando Green Lantern in there and we can't get John Stewart up in Justice League.

*This is coming from a guy who loves the Reynolds GL movie. That doesn't change the fact it was bad.

[Elheru Aran]

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm kinda over Batman movies and ready to take a break from them for awhile. I certainly wouldn't mind more focus on the lesser known heroes like Green Lantern, maybe even B- and C-listers like Power Girl and Blue Beetle (Ted Kord version would be fun, but Jamie would have all the cool alien effects and such). Cyborg was regrettably flat in JL, but Flash had potential. Wonder Woman already has another movie coming out next year, I think.

Yea well, the Reynolds movie basically murdered that idea as it was absolute trash.* I remember being super pissed when they had the Steppenwolf flashback and you see rando Green Lantern in there and we can't get John Stewart up in Justice League.

*This is coming from a guy who loves the Reynolds GL movie. That doesn't change the fact it was bad.

Oh god, yeah, no, don't redo the Reynolds movie. Just do something over with John Stewart or maybe even Kyle Rayner, throw in the subplot with Kyle dating Alan Scott's daughter Jade or something to pull in the OG magic-based Green Lantern.

Even better, some kind of JL second-stringer movie or whatever. They already did Suicide Squad and it's not like that was ever a super leading guy type of comic book. Did pretty okay IIRC even if it didn't quite know what kind of movie it wanted to be.

Here's a plot off the cuff: J'onn J'onzz has a disaster on his hands, all the big guys are busy, so he sighs and has to flip through the Super-Iphone and send a group text. Power Girl, Booster Gold, and, who knows, Fire and Ice or Hawk and Dove, one of those silly pairs from the Silver Age, show up. Maybe along the way they get an assist from John Stewart or Guy Gardner. Throw in Jonah Hex (but not the Josh Brolin version, for preference) to shake it up. Booster Gold makes snarky jokes about how they've solved silly problem in the future, someone shuts him down by pointing out that he makes a living by pasting a big Google sticker on the ass of his super-suit. Fight. Superman shows up at the last minute to answer all the questions at the press conference and take credit for the victory. /endfilm.

Cheesy? Stupid? Absolutely. But totally workable.

EDIT: Seriously, Texts from Superheroes is totally the way to go with this. Something goofy and stupid and funny like that, playing off popular knowledge of the heroes but throwing in plenty of nerdy references like Batman geeking out over the fact that Shazam is actually an orphan teenage boy... like all his Robins... with superpowers. Okay, maybe not that because that's sketchy and a little NAMBLA-ish, but you know what I mean. Insider references, pop culture funny. Throw in a joke about Red and Blue Supermans while you're at it.

[Gandalf]

That's a shame, Batfleck was one of the best parts of the whole DC film universe.

[TheFeniX]

Oh god, yeah, no, don't redo the Reynolds movie. Just do something over with John Stewart or maybe even Kyle Rayner, throw in the subplot with Kyle dating Alan Scott's daughter Jade or something to pull in the OG magic-based Green Lantern.

Reynolds wasn't even the problem: He's actually pretty damn perfect to play Hal Jordan because Jordan was always an ass with (depending on the story) enough charm to make you not hate him. There's just so many other thing wrong with the movie, I could dedicate an entire thread to break it down and I'm sure other nerds have already done so. They could reboot it right now with him as the lead and if they made it good, people would flock to it. But Reynolds is too busy knocking it out of the park with Deadpool, I honestly don't know what would be involved in all that.

EDIT: The CGI costume was actually the LEAST of the problems the movie faced, even though nerds like to harp on it.

However, I will say John Stewart GL has always been the GL I've known and been a fan of. More than willing to crack a joke and be involved in the lives of his teammates, while being a no nonsense kind of guy when shit hits the fan. Jordan has always been WAY to willing to fuck around when the stakes are high. Yes, it does make for SOME comedy, but it makes him out to be a butt monkey.

As for the rest, I'll just say: "You had me at Power Girl."

[The Romulan Republic]

That's a shame, Batfleck was one of the best parts of the whole DC film universe.

This.

But I can't blame him for want out of this train wreck, especially with the unwarranted vitriol from the fanbase.

[Enigma]

That's a shame, Batfleck was one of the best parts of the whole DC film universe.

I'm on the fence with Batfleck. In BvS, he was great. He hated Supes and really wanted to kill him (As far as I can recall). But in JL, he does a 180 and became Supes no.1 fanboy. I bet if Supes dropped tights in the middle of either Metropolis or Gotham and told Batman to suck his dick, Bats would gleefully go down on him.

[Crazedwraith]

Well the 180 is sort of the point of BVS and the Martha scene.

The 180 is the interesting part not merely irrationally hating superman, or it would be if the Martha scene wasn't so abrupt.

JL also has my favourite Batfleck scene, where he's encouraging to the Flash to be a hero,

[TheFeniX]

I'm on the fence with Batfleck. In BvS, he was great. He hated Supes and really wanted to kill him (As far as I can recall). But in JL, he does a 180 and became Supes no.1 fanboy. I bet if Supes dropped tights in the middle of either Metropolis or Gotham and told Batman to suck his dick, Bats would gleefully go down on him.

I've read takes on Batman from people far more invested that I that the whole Martha scene, while moronic, was also a huge watershed moment for Batman. It hit him in multiple areas since he was basically about to just go completely over the edge at that point and what would he think of himself after that, what would his parents think of him, and also that Superman might be an alien, but he has human parents and that he's also someone's son.

After that, the whole fanboyism kind of kicks in because Batman IS the odd-man out when put next to an Amazon Goddess, Super Cyborg, etc etc as he's just a rich guy with gadgets who is pretty tough. And the line of "But does it need you?" from Supes: that had to hit hard. Let's face it, when Superman shows up to the Steppenwulf fight, he basically pulls it in the driveway in record time, all while also taking a "Cube Nuke" to the face, and even out flashing Flash (twice). He IS that much more of a big hitter than Batman and Batman HAS to know this as he's a fairly smart guy.

So, for all my problems with the movies, I actually don't have too much of a problem with "3 weeks from retirement" Batman fanboying at Superman after Superman has proven him wrong.

[Enigma]

Well the 180 is sort of the point of BVS and the Martha scene.

The 180 is the interesting part not merely irrationally hating superman, or it would be if the Martha scene wasn't so abrupt.

JL also has my favourite Batfleck scene, where he's encouraging to the Flash to be a hero,

But he went from one extreme to another. I wouldn't be surprised if Bats squealed like a little girl whenever Supes appeared. It's just jarring. I don't mind him showing respect but it felt he was trying too hard.

[Enigma]

I'm on the fence with Batfleck. In BvS, he was great. He hated Supes and really wanted to kill him (As far as I can recall). But in JL, he does a 180 and became Supes no.1 fanboy. I bet if Supes dropped tights in the middle of either Metropolis or Gotham and told Batman to suck his dick, Bats would gleefully go down on him.

I've read takes on Batman from people far more invested that I that the whole Martha scene, while moronic, was also a huge watershed moment for Batman. It hit him in multiple areas since he was basically about to just go completely over the edge at that point and what would he think of himself after that, what would his parents think of him, and also that Superman might be an alien, but he has human parents and that he's also someone's son.

After that, the whole fanboyism kind of kicks in because Batman IS the odd-man out when put next to an Amazon Goddess, Super Cyborg, etc etc as he's just a rich guy with gadgets who is pretty tough. And the line of "But does it need you?" from Supes: that had to hit hard. Let's face it, when Superman shows up to the Steppenwulf fight, he basically pulls it in the driveway in record time, all while also taking a "Cube Nuke" to the face, and even out flashing Flash (twice). He IS that much more of a big hitter than Batman and Batman HAS to know this as he's a fairly smart guy.

So, for all my problems with the movies, I actually don't have too much of a problem with "3 weeks from retirement" Batman fanboying at Superman after Superman has proven him wrong.

From everything I've read from the comics and a few animated features, AFAIK Batman never showed that kind of emotion. It's just jarring, at least to me.

[SolarpunkFan]

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm kinda over Batman movies and ready to take a break from them for awhile. I certainly wouldn't mind more focus on the lesser known heroes

Likewise. We've got plenty of Batman films already, I really think DC should give everyone a breather from them for a while. And I think a focus on little-known heroes would be a fun change of pace.

Reynolds wasn't even the problem: He's actually pretty damn perfect to play Hal Jordan because Jordan was always an ass with (depending on the story) enough charm to make you not hate him. There's just so many other thing wrong with the movie, I could dedicate an entire thread to break it down and I'm sure other nerds have already done so.

Not gonna lie, a thread like that would make an interesting read (at least in my opinion). I really should go looking for something of the like.