Final 12 months, Matt Reeves’ The Batman was launched and launched the world to Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne, however there was a time when this mission was supposed to provide Ben Affleck’s Batman his personal platform. Forward of Batman v Superman: Daybreak of Justice’s launch in 2016, Affleck group with then-DC Leisure Chief Artistic Officer Geoff Johns to work on the DC film’s script, however it was in the end determined to scrap this angle in favor of going the reboot route. Now a veteran from the DC Prolonged Universe has opened up about how deeply Affleck’s model of The Batman would have explored the Caped Crusader’s mythos, and he dropped an f-bomb whereas doing so.
Jay Oliva has been a storyboard artist on quite a few DC tasks, together with DCEU entries Man of Metal, Batman v Superman: Daybreak of Justice, Marvel Girl and Justice League (each variations). He additionally served in a consultant-like through the DCEU period, and as such was finally looped into the event of Ben Affleck’s The Batman. In an interview with Inverse, Oliva famous that whereas he couldn’t “say a lot about this mission,” he first described it as “fucking superior” and “superb,” then added the next:
I’ve labored on lots of Batman issues and what was actually cool about it was, it was tying collectively lots of actually cool Batman storylines that had by no means been actually explored… Ben’s story was gonna cowl one thing that had by no means actually been lined in comics however was constructing off of storylines within the Batman mythos over the past 80 years and approaching it from a brand new form of perspective.
On the time Batman v Superman: Daybreak of Justice got here out, eight live-action Batman motion pictures had been launched, together with many extra animated ones both in theaters or direct-to-video. Throwing in his many comedian e book appearances since debuting in 1939’s Detective Comics #27, and it’d be troublesome for anybody to maintain observe of all of the sorts of adventures Batman’s been in over the a long time. And but, based on Oliva, Affleck’s The Batman would have eschewed delivering some form adaptation of a narrative like Batman: Yr One or The Darkish Knight Returns in favor of delivering an authentic story that, whereas pulling from the supply materials, delved into materials that had by no means been instantly lined earlier than.
Whereas Jay Oliva wasn’t prepared to disclose any specifics, within the years for the reason that Ben Affleck model of The Batman was scrapped, followers have realized a handful of plot particulars about it, together with that Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke would have been the primary antagonist and Batgirl would have appeared. We might by no means be taught any of the extra particular beats story beats, however it’s clear that Oliva was impressed by the work that was poured into the mission. As he put it:
It was very intelligent and there have been lots of issues about it that I actually cherished that I want that had come to fruition. It was a very nice mission at first. Ben needed to step away for private causes, and I completely understood, however the time that I spent with Ben engaged on the mission was unbelievable. Perhaps sometime I can spill the beans, however I nonetheless cannot speak about it.
Again in 2019, Affleck mentioned that the explanation he walked away from The Batman was as a result of he couldn’t “crack” the script, however the next 12 months, he additionally acknowledged that his alcoholism factored into his exit. By Might 2023, Affleck acknowledged that there was a “complete elaborate plan” for The Batman, however he felt he “wasn’t fairly positive if it labored or jived” and ended up “exact location or goal” he’d hoped to hit. Because the years go, hopefully individuals like Affleck, Oliva and Johns can be prepared to share much more concerning the DCEU’s The Batman so followers have a greater concept of what might have been. Even higher, possibly DC could be prepared someday to take that written materials and adapt it into a comic book e book restricted collection.
Should you’re all for revisiting the model of The Batman we did get, it may be seen with a Max subscription. That nook of the DC multiverse will broaden with The Penguin miniseries being made for a similar streaming platform, adopted by The Batman: Half II being slated on the upcoming DC motion pictures schedule for an October 3, 2025 launch.
