If Warner Bros. hoped to quell rumors this week that it is seeking to find a new Batman, it couldn’t have asked for a better means of doing it than the ecstatic display of loyalty by Ben Affleck Saturday morning in Hall H.
Just two days after a rumor broke that Warner Bros and Affleck are looking for a way for him to “gracefully” exit the role, Affleck appeared at the studio’s San Diego Comic-Con presentation.
And he was all smiles, with an equal measure of practically fanboy level hype. He also seemed to be making it crystal clear that he is determined to remain under the cowl for the foreseeable future.
As the “Justice League” portion of the panel kicked off, Affleck, along with costars Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller, Gal Gadot and Ezra Miller, walked through the audience rows toward the stage while the film’s heavily-featured cover of “Come Together” blasted.
“Being Batman is the coolest f—ing part in any universe. I’m so thrilled to do it,” Affleck practically shouted as soon as he was on stage. “It’s f—ing amazing [to] have this history of this great studio… They said to me, ‘We want you to be our Batman and I believe them.” So much for all that talk of behind-the-scenes discord.
Affleck was originally set to direct a stand-alone film, “The Batman,” before dropping out to focus on merely appearing on camera. And he took great pains to make it clear that he’s 100 percent on board with his replacement behind the camera, Matt Reeves.
“And Matt Reeves doing it,” Affleck said. “I would be an ape on the ground for Matt, [let alone] Batman. It’s a great time in the DC universe… I’m so thrilled to be Batman.”
Affleck’s enthusiasm at least appears to be the definitive shoot-down of a rumor published Thursday by The Hollywood Reporter that Warner Bros. is keen to replace Affleck as the caped crusader for undisclosed reasons, but wishes to do so “gracefully” with an in-universe explanation addressed in a future DC film.
The report even held that Affleck himself is dying to get out of the role. At least on Saturday morning, that definitely didn’t appear to be the case.
And just in case it wasn’t clear, he said the following right after the panel showed off the latest “Justice League” trailer: “To get to come to Hall H and say “I’m Batman is so f—ing awesome.”