Although it’s still unclear whether Ben Affleck will don the cape and cowl again, he remains onboard to produce director Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which is set to begin principal photography next spring.
Reeves himself mentioned the possible start date just last week, but confirmation of that timeline and of Affleck’s off-camera role arrives courtesy of a listing in Production Weekly. According to Pursue News, Geoff Johns and his new banner Mad Ghost are also listed, while Reeves is listed as the film’s sole writer.
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Affleck and Johns were the original writers of the Batman solo film, announced in April 2016 following months of rumors. However, their script was scrapped after Reeves succeeded Affleck as director in February 2017. Previous reports had indicated Mark Bomback (War for the Planet of the Apes) was working with Reeves on the screenplay, but the Production Weekly listing suggests that may not be the case.
Asked last week during the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour about rumors that Affleck is being replaced as Batman, Reeves would only say that he’s still in contact with the actor. That hardly puts to rest persistent rumors that Affleck is walking away from the role of Bruce Wayne.
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However, the filmmaker did throw cold water on reports that The Batman is based on “Year One,” the seminal DC comics storyline by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli.
“’Year One’ is one of the many comic books that I love,” Reeves said. “We are definitely not doing ‘Year One.’”