Robert Pattinson is the latest actor to play Batman, but it appears the brooding role has lured Ben Affleck back for at least one more go. Despite a lot of fanfare about his departure from the suit, a report on Thursday indicated that Affleck will return as Batman in a movie where someone else is the feature.
According to Vanity Fair, Affleck will return to the rubber suit in The Flash, an Ezra Miller-led DC Universe movie expected to hit theaters in 2022.
“He’s a very substantial part of the emotional impact of the movie. The interaction and relationship between Barry and Affleck’s Wayne will bring an emotional level that we haven’t seen before,” the director added. “It’s Barry’s movie, it’s Barry’s story, but their characters are more related than we think. They both lost their mothers to murder, and that’s one of the emotional vessels of the movie. That’s where the Affleck Batman kicks in.”
Interestingly, Affleck’s Batman is just one of several who will reportedly appear in the film, including Michael Keaton’s Batman from the 90s film series. The Flash will apparently feature a number of different timelines from the Batman story, which is certainly one way to get a bunch of Batmen in a movie together.
Affleck won’t be the only Batman making a comeback; a few more of the alternate-dimension heroes who turn up in the Flash movie will be figures we’ve seen before. Michael Keaton’s Batman from the 1989 Tim Burton film is also set to appear in what Muschietti said was a “substantial” part.
It’s initially unclear what other “alternate-dimension heroes” will appear, but it seems this DC Universe movie is set to toy with the canon considerably come 2022.
[via Vanity Fair]