Filmmaker and actor Ben Affleck was initially set to direct a Batman solo film, and recently, he opened up about what his plans for that were.
What were Ben Affleck’s Plans for a Batman Movie?
Speaking during Zack Snyder’s Full Circle Justice League event (via The Direct), Affleck talked about his plans for his own Batman film, which coincidentally would’ve also been called The Batman. Affleck was asked about his plans, with Deathstroke being specifically mentioned as a potential villain. The director revealed his plans were to make more “nuanced, complex characters,” especially when it came to someone like Deathstroke.
“There were a number of them that I was kind of exploring,” said Affleck. “And, the plans were to make interesting, nuanced, complex characters, in particular to the character you mentioned. I kind of feel like either you do – I’m just going to get into my own preference here – but either you do a kind of massive one villain that is so formidable you just can’t imagine how your protagonist is going to be able to overcome it. Or you have to really sort of populate kind of, you know, Injustice – these big group villains – where you have to get all these different characters.”
Affleck went on to note that at the time, he was trying to focus on Deathstroke and make him “seem as impressive” as he could.
“So I was at the time really trying to hone in and focus on that character and get into depth and detail about it to make him seem as impressive as I felt there was the opportunity to do. That’s the only detail I have for you,” Affleck said.
While Deathstroke would never appear in a standalone Batman film, he did briefly appear in the post-credits scene of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, where he was played by Joe Manganiello in a brief cameo.
