Despite Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice’s theatrical release proving to be rather divisive among moviegoers, there was one thing many fans on both sides of the fence agreed on: Ben Affleck was a great Batman. Boasting an intimidating presence and a long overdue black and grey costume, in addition to dazzling audiences with a fight scene ripped right out of an Arkham game, “Batfleck” was arguably the most comic book accurate Dark Knight to ever grace the silver screen.
Apparently, this is not lost on Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, who had the following to say at the 25th Annual Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference:
“The reboot of Batman with Ben Affleck was a big success. He’s going to be EP on Justice League and that’s helpful to that team.”
Furthermore, he gave an off-the-cuff estimate as to when Batman will arrive in cinemas:
“Ben announced a Batman movie [that] he’s going to direct, star, write for – I think it’s a year and a half out. So, the strategy worked.”
While that does sound entirely realistic, one must remember that WB have The Flash slated to hit theaters on March 16, 2018, swiftly followed by Aquaman on July 27. Unless they plan on pushing either of those films, which wouldn’t be unheard of, it’s more likely that Batman will arrive on October 5 of that year, as the studio has that date reserved for an unnamed DC project.
Let is also be known that WB have November 1, 2019 open as well, but odds are that will be taken by either Suicide Squad 2, Harley Quinn, or Man of Steel 2, all of which are in some kind of planning phase. With the roles of Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello), Commissioner Jim Gordon (J.K. Simmons), and Batman himself already filled – not to mention Joker (Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) waiting in the wings – too many stars are aligning for our next cinematic trip to Gotham City to come sooner rather than later.
But before then, be sure to catch Ben Affleck in his next reprisal of the Batman role in Justice League, which opens on November 17, 2017.