DC wants to bring back Ben Affleck, but not as Batman

James Gunn, one half of the duo at the vanguard of a new DC cinematic universe, has confirmed that the team would like Ben Affleck to return to the DCU, but it likely won't be to reprise his role as Batman.

This is a highly interesting development. You'll recall that the same approach is potentially being implemented in order to retain Jason Momoa in the DCU. However, plenty of people felt that Affleck was the closest fans got to a comic book accurate Bruce Wayne. "Everything good about the Snyderverse was Batfleck," said Reddit user MolochHunter. "The best Batman we have had so far in my honest opinion." Even if you aren't a fan of the actor, a huge level of effort was poured into his costuming to take the very best of the original material and transform it for the silver screen. Costume designer Michael Wilkinson and his team used a brand new fabric for Batfleck's armor so that it would closely follow the actor's own musculature, bringing the overall look much more in line with Frank Miller's illustrations of the character. "This is the older, darker, grittier Batman that is more in line with the Dark Knight title. Very comic book accurate and depicting my personal favorite version of Batman from the comics," added CatchAmongUs.

Check out this chilling deleted scene from Matt Reeves' The Batman here!

If you haven't heard by now, Henry Cavill is no longer returning to the role of Superman as James Gunn and Peter Safran announced that the next Superman movie will follow a younger iteration of the character at the start of his journalistic career. Gunn is on board as the writer for this project, and he said he has been working on this movie for some time, but the director is still an open position. "Met with Ben [Affleck] yesterday precisely because he wants to direct & we want him to direct; we just have to find the right project," explained the executive in response to a fan who suggested that Affleck could be the director for this younger Superman movie.

This is in no way a confirmation that Affleck is attached to the project yet it is heartening for fans of the actor's filmography that he might still have a chance to contribute to the future of the DCU, even if it isn't playing Batman again.