Storyboard artist Jay Oliva explained how Ben Affleck‘s canceled solo Batman movie would have embraced the entirety of Bruce Wayne‘s comic book history.
Speaking to Inverse, the artist doesn’t go into details regarding the scrapped film but does insist that it “was amazing,” explaining that a few versions of the story had been created before Affleck ultimately left the project. “From my understanding, there were a couple of drafts of it. When I was brought on, I don’t know whether it was the second draft or something, but it was what Geoff Johns and Ben [Affleck] had shown me,” Oliva said.
The creative went on to say that the early concepts he saw pulled from a variety of stories that had yet to find a home on the big screen. “Ben’s story was gonna cover something that had never really been covered in comics but was building off of storylines in the Batman mythos over the last 80 years and approaching it from a new kind of perspective,” Oliva said. While DC and Warner Bros. were eager to produce the movie, the film was ultimately canned when Affleck stepped down as the star and director. Reports suggest that the project’s termination ultimately resulted in the development and subsequent success of Matt Reeves‘ The Batman, which saw Robert Pattinson don the cowl.
Affleck Battled With Batman
Affleck has been candid about struggling to play Batman during his tenure in the DC Extended Universe, lamenting his performance as the Dark Knight in both Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. Despite this, the actor has noted that he considers his most recent and likely final outing as Bruce Waye in The Flash to be the moment when he figured out how to play the character.
Both Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League are now available to stream on Max.
