As Ben Affleck Confirms He’s Done, Matt Reeves Confirms He’s Just Beginning

The Bat is Dead! Long Live the Bat!

Among the many ballyhooed topics in nerd circles, there is one paramount piece of chatter for DC Comics lovers and haters: “Will Batfleck be back?”

Thanks to a pretty obvious tweet from Ben himself, the answer is a resounding “No.” 

Excited for #TheBatman in Summer 2021 and to see @MattReevesLA vision come to life. https://t.co/GNgyJroMIO

— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) January 31, 2019

You may now stop holding your breath.

Perhaps it’s the long wait until May 2021 as we have now heard will be the release date, and maybe dude has some things to do, like make The Accountant 2: Taxing Changes in Beantown. Whatever the reason, Batfleck is over.

He made three movies and is arguably one of the most enigmatic and commanding presences of the cape and the cowl we’ve ever been offered. There was hope out there Matt Reeves could use Affleck, although he was considering getting younger at that position.

It seems that form of hope is no more.

There have been two solid years for the rumor mill to practically spin off its axle on who could replace Ben should he not decide to star or screenwrite or co-produce or just get his thumb out of batass and make up his mind.

Be careful what you wish for, nerds. 

On the bright side, whatever Reeves is creating (now sans Affleck) could be the quintessential ‘Batman’ film. Like, overall.

Matt Reeves has shared (with THR) a few revealing and hair-raising details to make DC fans smile through this misery about what has to be longest gestation for a CBM in the history of ever.

You can’t have Batman without a villain…There will be a rogues gallery.

I’m sorry, what?! Multiple villains for a Batflick? Oh joy! And this couples with a fairly cryptic tweet on the subject from good friend of Reeves, potential penguin, and part-time snowman, Josh Gad.

Good Knight pic.twitter.com/5qu6HOn1qL

— Josh Gad (@joshgad) January 14, 2019

(Reeves’ son goes to school with Gad’s daughter, so there’s that.)

And wait, there’s more. Something else from Reeves personally.

Bruce Wayne is the paragon of detectives–better than Dick Tracy, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Sam Spade, or even Veronica Mars. At least, that is Reeves’ standpoint and something we will soon witness the full realization of that vision.

It’s very much a point-of-view-driven, noir Batman tale…It’s told very squarely on his shoulders, and I hope it’s going to be a story that will be thrilling but also emotional. It’s more Batman in his detective mode than we’ve seen in the films.

In February 2017, we got the mastermind behind two of the Planet of the Apes and Cloverfield movies to become the helm of the next era of the franchise. (And, did you know he also wrote Under Siege 2: Dark Territory? Sorry, that was just for me.) In May 2021, we will get the end of rumors and the culmination of a 5.5-year process.

The morale of the story? Good things come to those who wait.

Troll and tease all you want. Scoop with misleading headlines or stunt the growth of other critics. Nothing really matters because when it comes down to it, we are pundits talking shop while guys like Matt Reeves and Geoff Johns in DC Nation are making shop.

Speaking solely for one side of the comic tracks at the moment, has DC and WB earned our unfettered trust? Not really. Should we give them a chance to get it back? Most definitely. Look at the future.

It’ll take a while, but that glimmer you see in the distance? It may not be light at the end of the tunnel. It may just be hope after all.