Ben Affleck’s Batman Movie(Photo Credit –Facebook)
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Before The Batman with Robert Pattinson entered production, Ben Affleck was brewing a Batman movie of his own. The concept leaned into a shadowy detective atmosphere and would’ve marked a sharp turn in tone for the DCEU. Concatenated closely to Joe Manganiello’s version of Deathstroke, the film was pitched as a gritty and tightly wound psychological tale.
Inspired by David Fincher’s psychological thriller The Game, the scrapped solo film had Deathstroke tearing Bruce Wayne’s life apart, piece by piece. With Affleck set to direct, pen, and star, this version of the Caped Crusader was meant to ditch brawls for psychological warfare. The vision never made it to set, but key details about its blueprint remain.
Batman Script Explored Dark Mind Games With Deathstroke
Ben Affleck’s version of Batman was originally lined up after his appearance in Justice League, and it was intended as a character-led noir thriller. He was attached not only to portray Bruce Wayne but also to write and direct the project. Early outlines of the film painted a stripped-back, grounded story with heavy psychological pressure instead of large-scale action. In this one, Joe Manganiello was expected to return as Deathstroke, following his brief appearance in the end credits of Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Unlike a traditional villain, Deathstroke was scripted as a silent predator who would strike not with spectacle but with strategy. In 2020, Joe Manganiello explained the tone while speaking to Yahoo Entertainment, saying, “There were similarities to The Game. It was a really dark story in which Deathstroke was like a shark or a horror movie villain that was dismantling Bruce’s life from the inside out. It was this systemic thing: He killed everyone close to Bruce and destroyed his life to try and make him suffer because he felt that Bruce was responsible for something that happened to him.”
“It was a really dark story in which Deathstroke was like a shark or a horror movie villain that was dismantling Bruce’s life from the inside out.” – Joe Manganiello on Ben Affleck’s ‘The Batman’ pic.twitter.com/jxtsXWZjPL
Rather than focusing on external threats or superhuman enemies, Ben Affleck’s script reportedly zoomed in on Bruce’s inner world unraveling, with Slade Wilson targeting his personal ties and weakening him emotionally. The style mirrored the psychological tension found in The Game, where the lead is unsure of what’s real and whom to trust.
Storyboard artist Jay Oliva, who worked closely on the project, described it in strong terms during a conversation with Inverse. “It was the best. It was amazing,” he said. “It was tying together a lot of really cool Batman storylines that had never been really explored.”
Ben Affleck later withdrew from directing and eventually stepped away from the entire project. His departure coincided with production complications around Justice League. The studio later moved forward with a complete reboot under Matt Reeves, leaving Affleck’s version in development limbo.
