You may have heard that after just two critically unsuccessful outings, Ben Affleck may be leaving the role of Batman. In fact, there are rumors that his last appearance as the Dark Knight will be in the upcoming sequel to either Suicide Squad, or the solo Flash film, Flashpoint.

RELATED: A Complete History of Ben Affleck Playing (and NOT Playing) Batman

Since these rumors began to circulate, two names have been consistently mentioned as possible replacements for Affleck. The first is Jon Hamm (Mad Men), and the second is Jake Gyllenhaal.

For some, these might be slightly odd choices, but keep in mind that people said the same of Affleck when his casting was announced. His (and Gal Gadot's) performance in the otherwise panned Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice helped audiences cast aside their doubts, even if Justice League kind of reconfirmed their original trepidation. So, with Affleck potentially on his way out, we're looking ahead to the next actor to take on the role. And, we believe that if Gyllenhaal were to take over, not only could he be even more memorable and more successful than Affleck, he could prove to be the best Batman since Michael Keaton.

Michael Keaton as Batman

While a lot of people, particularly younger fans, might have images of Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming pop into their heads when Keaton is mentioned, many still remember him as the perfectly tormented hero from 1989's Batman and its sequel, Batman Returns. Keaton was near-universally praised for his performance, and those films went on to become financial successes and bonafide superhero classics. However, much like Affleck, audiences were initially doubtful that Keaton could pull off playing Bruce Wayne, a debate we're seeing once again with the rumors that Gyllenhaal may don the cowl after Affleck makes his exit.

Believe it or not, this isn't the first time Gyllenhaal has been in consideration for a superhero role, as Sam Raimi looked at Gyllenhaal for the role of Peter Parker after Tobey Macguire was injured during filming of Spider-Man 2. It's not even the first time he was in consideration for the role of Batman; before the role was given to Christian Bale, Gyllenhaal was being considered for Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins.

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Why would Jake Gyllenhaal make a great Batman? To answer that, we only need to take a short look at his career, which boasts a wide variety of different roles, each one possessing one or two qualities that would prove vital to a convincing Batman.

RELATED: Ben Affleck Still Wants to Direct a Batman Film

Batman is a vigilante, battling hardened criminals, so arguably the most important quality an actor must possess for the role is the ability to convincingly endure carefully choreographed action scenes. This is something Gyllenhaal has more than a little bit of experience with. A great example is Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the film adaptation of the video game series. Now, that movie had many, many flaws, but Gyllenhaal's performance in the action scenes was not one of them. There's also End of Watch, for which Gyllenhaal endured five months of intense training in order to play an L.A cop, or Southpaw, for which he learned how to convincingly give and receive major beat downs. With all of that under his belt, he's definitely got the physical abilities, not to mention the physique, for a superhero role.

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More than just a costumed street fighter, the Dark Knight is intimidating and haunted by a tragic past, as well as a plethora of mortifying experiences fighting Gotham's most twisted criminals. The right actor would be able to capture that hardened persona without appearing stiff, which is exactly what Gyllenhaal does in Prisoners, where he played a detective caught in an increasingly frustrating case involving kidnapping, murder and criminals waging war against God. On paper, it sounds like a story that would fit perfectly into Batman's world. While the film isn't set in Gotham and the villains are nowhere near as colorful, Gyllenhaal conveys all the right emotions and character complexities to convince us that his portrayal of Bruce Wayne would have the same effect on us as Michael Keaton's did way back when.

Finally, we have to talk about how Batman is just aspect of the character. The right actor would be able to play Bruce Wayne as a suave playboy billionaire, the Dark Knight's alter ego. Obviously, Gyllenhaal looks great in a suit, but there has to be more to it than being able to clean up well. Bruce Wayne is just as complex a role as Batman, if not more so. Luckily, dual roles are nothing new for Gyllenhaal, who played opposing personalities in Enemy for which his performance was praised. Then there's his performance as Jamie Randall in Love and Other Drugs, which saw him play a confident, suit-wearing, pharmaceutical sales rep. Not exactly a billionaire, sure, but the goodhearted, reckless personality is there, the same one Batman would employ to fool the public and keep them from guessing he's Gotham's watchful protector.

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We could go on and on about Gyllenhaal's wide range, but it's enough to simply say that there's a reason why the actor has been nominated for a variety of prestigious awards so many times. He has a way of conveying all the right emotions and has proven that he's dedicated enough to at least try and acquire all the necessary skills.

It's understandable, given how passionate fans are about Batman, why they demand nothing but the best for a live adaptation of their hero and therefore feel the need to immediately cast doubt at whomever they feel may fail in the slightest way on-screen. But if the rumors of Affleck's departure are true, and Gyllenhaal really is being heavily considered to take over, at the very least, he deserves the benefit of the doubt, because he could end up being the best Batman we'll have ever seen.