Ben Affleck silenced most skeptics with his brutal performance as the Dark Knight in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," and fueled excitement for "Justice League" and his solo film with a tease of DC Comics villain Deathstroke. Amid the hype now comes word the Batman movie may arrive sooner than we thought.
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The Suicide Squadcast caught a tidbit from Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes' recent investor conference that seemingly everyone else missed: a timeline of sorts for Affleck's Batman film. "Ben announced a Batman movie [that] he’s going to direct, star, write for," he said. "I think it’s a year and a half out."
Eighteen months would mean March 2018, give or take, but it's unclear whether Bewkes is referring to that as a targeted start of production or the release date. As Batman-News points out, the former seems more likely, making Affleck's "Batman" a prime candidate for the announced, but still untitled, DC film slotted for Nov. 1, 2019, on the Warner Bros. calendar.
As confirmed in April by Warner Bros., Affleck will direct and star in the Batman film, which he's co-writing with DC Entertainment President Geoff Johns. Affleck told reporters during a June visit to the "Justice League" movie set that he wasn't completely satisfied yet with the Batman script, explaining that he has "the highest of standards" for the project.
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“That’s something that would have to pass a very high bar for me," he said. "It’s not just, ‘Yeah, that might be fun, let’s go try this out.'”
Joe Manganiello is set to appear in the film as Deathstroke, with Jeremy Irons and J.K. Simmons expected to reprise their roles as Alfed Pennyworth and Commissioner Gordon, respectively.
Director Zack Snyder's "Justice League" arrives in theaters Nov. 17, 2017.
(via Screen Rant)