It has been confirmed, via Vanity Fair, that Ben Affleck will suit up once again as Batman, with the actor reprising his role as the Dark Knight for Ezra Miller’s ‘The Flash.’
Long in the works, the film has Andy Muschietti (‘IT,’ ‘Mama’) attached to direct from a script by Christina Hodson (‘Batgirl,’ ‘Birds of Prey’) and is loosely based on the 2011 crossover event ‘Flashpoint.’
Created by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert, ‘Flashpoint’ sees Barry Allen traveling back in time to prevent the death of his mother and inadvertently create an alternate timeline for the DC Universe. In this new timeline, young Bruce Wayne was the one who was murdered in Crime Alley, with his father Thomas Wayne taking on the mantle of Batman, albeit a more violent and ruthless Dark Knight than his son.
As previously revealed, Michael Keaton, who played Batman in Tim Burton’s 1989 film and reprised the role in 1992’s ‘Batman Returns,’ is also due to appear alongside Miller in ‘The Flash.’
According to the report, Affleck, who had made it clear on numerous occasions he had no plans to ever return to the role, received the script for ‘The Flash’ at the end of last week and agreed to board the project.
“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,” Muschietti tells Vanity Fair. “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.”