Confirming what has been assumed since the day Ben Affleck was announced as the new Batman, the Argo filmmaker will now reportedly co-write and direct an upcoming solo film featuring the Dark Knight.
The report arrived on the first day of Comic-Con International in San Diego, with Deadline indicating that Affleck will team up with veteran DC Comics writer Geoff Johns on the script for the film. Along with serving as the chief creative officer at DC Comics, Johns has written some of the publisher’s most celebrated story arcs for a wide range of characters, as well as writing for The Flash, Arrow, and many of the company’s other television projects. Johns also served as a writer on the recent Batman: Arkham Knight video game.
Affleck and Johns are expected to have a script ready before the end of the summer so that production can begin after Affleck completes work on his next project, a big-screen adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s Prohibition-era novel Live By Night. It’s unknown when the Batman solo movie will be inserted into Warner Bros.’ crowded calendar of comic-book movies, but the story is expected to unfold after the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice rather than being a prequel or yet another Dark Knight origin story.
Along with the solo movie, Affleck is expected to reprise the role of Batman in the 2017 film The Justice League: Part One, which will bring together many of the big-screen DC Comics superhero characters.
A two-time Oscar winner, Affleck brings a significant amount of Hollywood star power to WB’s fledgling cinematic universe, and his pairing with Johns — one of the most celebrated creators in the DC Comics universe over the last decade or so — makes for quite the dynamic duo.
Affleck will make his debut as Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, hitting theaters March 25, 2016.
