Is Warner Bros. also developing a Batman solo movie? Probably. We look at where he will turn up next.
NewsThis story continues potential spoilers for the Suicide Squad movie. It has been updated with new information.
Let's line up what we know about Batman's movie future. Ben Affleck is playing the Dark Knight in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and we'll first meet him on March 25, 2016. Check. Jared Leto is playing Batman's biggest enemy, the Joker...but not in a Batman movie. That will come in August 2016's Suicide Squad movie. Check. But we also know that even though there isn't a standalone Batman movie on the huge slate of DC superhero movies coming from Warner Bros., the studio still claims that they want to have one before 2020. We'll get to that in a minute, though.
Ben Affleck's Batman and Bruce Wayne will show up in at least a handful of scenes in that Suicide Squad movie. Latino Review has a fairly detailed synopsis of a recent draft of the script. I'm not going to break it down here (by all means, go read it), but essentially, Suicide Squad will do for the bad guys of the DCU what Batman v. Superman is doing for the good guys. There are apparently plans to have Batman show up in Suicide Squad, but only via video footage, as Amanda Waller and Rick Flagg (who is no longer Tom Hardy, possibly because of recent script changes) have been keeping an eye on Bats for awhile.
Now, as for that solo movie...there's now a report that Warner Bros. is eyeing November of 2018 for a potential release of a solo movie known as The Batman, possibly with Affleck directing. Affleck has been notoriously quiet about this entire affair, but he doesn't seem like an actor at a stage in his career where he's willing to do the seemingly endless commitments that Marvel require of their caped and cowled leading men and women. There's no doubt that Warner Bros. wants to do a standalone Batman movie; he is, after all, the studio's safest cinematic bet. It's just tough to imagine Mr. Affleck putting on a batsuit five times in four years, although perhaps that director's credit sweetens the pot a little.
We don't even know how many movies Ben Affleck has signed on for, but three is a safe bet (Dawn of Justice and two scheduled Justice Leaguemovies), and four is a possibility, assuming Warner Bros. are serious about that Batman solo movie. Forbes once reported that the Batmansolo movie would square Affleck's Batman off with Leto's Joker in a Dark Knight Returnsinspired tale, but...isn't Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justicealready a DKR inspired story? What's more, I have to question the wisdom of a Batman vs. Joker slugfest even tangentially associated with the words "Dark Knight" given the baggage left by Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger. So far, Warner Bros. has made a canny decision by not only casting the chameleon-like Leto in the role, but putting him in a movie that will help distance him even further from the previous iconic performance.
It's possible that we'll get confirmation on a Batman solo movie at SDCC when Warner Bros. does their big Hall H panel this year. We'll bring you every bit of DC Movie news as we get it.
Mike Cecchini would rather see a Starman movie than another solo Batman film, to be honest. Tell him why he's wrong on Twitter.
