While the question remains as to whether Ben Affleck will stay on as Batman after “Justice League,” the upcoming director of “The Batman” solo film would appear to already have a replacement in mind.
As we know Affleck was slated to direct the project from a script he was co-writing, but then he dropped out with the recent ‘Apes’ sequel helmer Matt Reeves coming onboard and retooling the whole project. The plan now is for a new trilogy of Batman films, but beyond that everything is up in the air.
Today, journalist, podcaster and producer John Campea has reported on his personal channel that Reeves has a specific person in mind to slip on the cowl should Affleck hang it up:
“I’m hesitant to say anything, but I talked to a Hollywood producer yesterday and they gave me the name of who Matt Reeves wants [to replace Ben Affleck] as Batman. And, I’ve got to be honest with you, that name caught me a little bit by surprise. I called somebody else later in the day, saying: ‘Hey, I heard this, is there any validity to this?’ And they said: ‘Well, Matt does want him…’ But that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. There’s been no movement or anything like that.”
Campea then went on to say the recast would be a straight actor swap (ala Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard as War Machine, or the pre-Nolan Batman films), and so would not be referenced and would remain within the same universe.
