'The Flash' Will Bring Back Ben Affleck As Batman

Well here's something surprising – Ben Affleck's Batman will return for The Flash. The film is said to deal with the multiverse, and it was previously reported that Michael Keaton's Batman would be featured in the film in some capacity. Now, in keeping with the topsy-turvy rules of the multiverse, it looks like Affleck' Batman is involved as well.

We previously reported the news that Michael Keaton's Batman would be back for The Flash, news that surprised pretty much everyone. But it looks like the surprising news about The Flash is just getting started, because Vanity Fair says that Ben Affleck's Batman is also returning for the film. How can there be more than one Batman in a movie? Well, The Flash is said to be drawing on the Flashpoint comics run, which involves the multiverse. So you can expect to see Affleck's Batman and Keaton's Batman both interact with Ezra Miller's Barry Allen, AKA The Flash.

"[Affleck's] Batman has a dichotomy that is very strong which is his masculinity—because of the way he looks, and the imposing figure that he has, and his jawline —but he's also very vulnerable," said The Flash director Andy Muschietti. "He knows how to deliver from the inside out, that vulnerability. He just needs a story that allows him to bring that contrast, that balance."

Muschietti added:

"He's a very substantial part of the emotional impact of the movie. The interaction and relationship between Barry and Affleck's Wayne will bring an emotional level that we haven't seen before. It's Barry's movie, it's Barry's story, but their characters are more related than we think. They both lost their mothers to murder, and that's one of the emotional vessels of the movie. That's where the Affleck Batman kicks in."

Muchietti also called Affleck's Batman "the baseline" and"part of that unaltered state before we jump into Barry's adventure." This makes it sound like the film will start off featuring Affleck's Batman, only to then end up with Keaton's Batman. Full details about Keaton's part aren't known yet, but Muschietti confirms the actor has a "substantial" role in the film. Other rumors indicate that Keaton's Batman could turn into the Nick Fury of the DCEU – a mentor-figure popping up in other movies.

As for The Flash, Muschietti says: "This movie is a bit of a hinge in the sense that it presents a story that implies a unified universe where all the cinematic iterations that we've seen before are valid. It's inclusive in the sense that it is saying all that you've seen exists, and everything that you will see exists, in the same unified multiverse."

This is all pretty damn cool, I have to admit. I love the idea of seeing Keaton's Batman again, and while I'm not a fan of Batman v Superman or Justice League, I do think Affleck did a good job as Batman/Bruce Wayne.

The Flash is set to run into theaters June 3, 2022. We're bound to learn more about the film this weekend during the DC Fandome.