Justice League has not fared well with the critics. And more importantly for Warner Bros., it has garnered the lowest opening weekend of the DCEU films. The implications of these two things are numerous, but I think it’s safe to say Ben Affleck will be parting ways with the franchise sooner than later.
Speculations regarding the Oscar winning actor’s leave first surfaced after Batman V. Superman took a critical thrashing back in 2016. Since then, news oscillated from Ben Affleck’s negotiations with Warner Bros. to opt out of his contract, to the actor’s appearances on a couple of Late Night shows to profess his dedication to the role. Saying nothing of his marital troubles or his battle with alcoholism, the quality of these films are clearly weighing on him.
I mention in my review that Affleck is clearly on auto pilot in Justice League and I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes an announcement to step down in the coming weeks, certainly before Matt Reeves’ The Batman goes into production. A few days ago, El Fan Boy reported an actor to replace Affleck as Batman has been selected for almost as long as the rumors of Affleck’s departure surfaced. Initially, the idea was to pressure Affleck into staying on board, but now it seems a practical method of recourse once he finally makes his reservations public. At any rate, the rumored actor set to take up the reigns is allegedly Jake Gyllenhaal.
Gyllenhaal is not an obvious choice for Bruce Wayne, but what matters is whether he can execute the character’s iconic traits: stoic, charismatic, assertive, tormented. The look comes second to all of that stuff. Gyllenhaal is a fine actor, but we’ll just have to wait and see. If this rumor is true, will it come to fruition after the Flashpoint arc for some kind of canonical explanation for the continuity change? Or will Warner Bros. usher Gyllenhaal in the next entry, Mark Ruffalo-style, like nothing ever happened?
What do you guys think? Is Affleck out?
