Canceled Ben Affleck Batman Movie Villain Details Reveal What Could Have Been

Before James Gunn defected from Marvel to make a coherent cinematic universe with Peter Safran, the DC Universe was defined by Zack Snyder. From his movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Snyder was charged with launching a cinematic universe built around members of the Justice League. And while most members did get a movie (sorry, Cyborg), there was a surprising omission: Batman, the most bankable character in the DC stable.

Sure, Ben Affleck‘s Batman was the co-lead of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and arguably the lead of both versions of Justice League. And yeah, he did get a cameo in Suicide Squad and will drop by in The Flash next month. But we never got a solo movie Batman movie starring Ben Affleck. Although one was in the works for quite some time, intended to be directed by Affleck himself, it got stuck in production hell as Warner Bros. hemmed and hawed about its future direction. Eventually, Affleck himself bowed out, and Matt Reeves’ year two story went forward, resulting in the excellent The Batman.

Speaking at the Full Circle event (via The Direct), a sort of celebration/closing commemoration of the Snyderverse, Affleck finally gave some details about his planned movie. It was even previously revealed that the intended villain was Deathstroke the Terminator, played by Joe Manganiello.

Affleck told attendees that Deathstroke would be part of his plan to “make interesting, nuanced, complex characters.” For his film, Affleck thought it best to feature “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.” In his mind, that approach was preferable to the other option, where “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.”