Around the same time last year, news broke that Ben Affleck was returning to the role of Batman and would reprise his role as the Caped Crusader in James Wan’s Aquaman 2. Back in 2019, Affleck announced that he would no longer play Batman in DC films, and even hosted a send-off ceremony for his character. He previously played Bruce Wayne in Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, then reprized that role in Justice League and starred in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad.
However, in 2022, Jason Momoa posted on social media that Affleck would return as Batman in the Aquaman sequel, which was scheduled for release in March 2023. Numerous changes to the filming schedule for Aquaman 2 and The Flash have disrupted that plan, and The Hollywood Reporter has now revealed that after several rounds of reshoots, Batman has been completely removed from Aquaman 2.
According to a THR report, Batman’s cameo in Aquaman 2 was originally directed by Michael Keaton, who directed scenes for the role. When the film’s release schedule changed and Aquaman 2 was released first, Affleck was brought in to re-shoot the cameo. After director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran took on the DC Cinematic Universe, the decision was made to cut the cameo to avoid confusion. Neither version of The Dark Knight is featured in the latest cut of the film, sources said, as new DC executives James Gunn and Peter Safran don’t want to promise a cinematic universe that won’t come to fruition and overly tie it to past failures.
