Ben Affleck is Batman

[The Laughing Fish]

The Snyderverse haunts Batgirl with a veteran possibly returning, one confirmed.

First of all, J.K. Simmons is officially reprising his role as Commissioner Jim Gordon.

On August 13, 2021, Geekosity reported that Simmons will return in the Batgirl HBO Max film.

Oddly enough, Saturday's DC Fandome event ignored this news; instead, Deadline dropped it a day later.

Sources indicate Warner Bros. Pictures chairman Toby Emmerich didn't want the Snyderverse acknowledged at DC Fandome. (In contrast, the Chinese Flash movie panel featured Snyder Cut footage.)

Hence, no Simmons, no Ben Affleck, no Henry Cavill.

https://geekositymag.com/two-snyderverse-veterans-in-batgirl-film/

This doesn't surprise me if it's true. Emmerich has been a sabotaging POS ever since he got into power, and under his control, WB has developed a notorious reputation over the years. Announcing Simmons coming back to play Gordon on DC FanDome would've given the Batgirl project more publicity, but instead, there was nothing to show for it except for concept art. But this is isn't the first time DC FanDome has spurned the opportunity to announce the return of Snyderverse characters for upcoming movies, let's not forget Affleck's return in The Flash was announced a few days before the event, allegedly as a way to distract people from Ray Fisher's accusations against key people behind the Josstice League debacle at the time.

Hell, there are even photos online of the Chinese version of DC FanDome last week having Justice League statues and memorabilia display, in addition to the Flash movie panel showing ZSJL footage as that Geekosity article says.



https://twitter.com/maxus29/status/1450068580821880832

Anybody who doesn't understand WB's shady and fractured nature by now has either failed to pay attention to what's going on, or is just being willfully ignorant.

Keaton will replace Affleck, but I see him being more of a mentor with bare minimum suit wearing or action. His age or JK Simmons' age is irrelevant in that case, as Batgirl would be the primary antagonist. All the B89 comic series content all would have happened and would remain canon. Nothing gets thrown away as you have to take that journey to get to the timeline merge, which is decades of prior adventures. It's not hard to see the trajectory or even how it will work.

How isn't the problem. The mechanics aren't the problem. I'm well versed in that. It's a matter of JK Simmons, which I don't think can be hand waved away.

There is another character who poses a huge discrepancy: Batgirl herself. As everyone who is keeping up to date with Batman '89 knows, the comics have introduced Barbara Gordon as a grown woman working as a sergeant for the GCPD and is dating Harvey Dent. From the looks of it, Barbara's likeness is believed to be modeled after Winona Ryder, and judging by her rank within the GCPD, I assume her age is between her mid to late thirties. We're only halfway through Batman '89, but it remains to be seen if Barbara will even become Batgirl (or Batwoman) as the saga progresses.



If JK Simmons wasn't a problem enough, the lead actress playing Barbara/Batgirl throws another spanner in the works for the idea to merge Burtonverse with the DC movie timeline, because Leslie Grace is a twenty six year old actress of Latin American descent.



After pointing out all of these differences, how can anyone seriously think the Batman '89 comic timeline would stay the same if it's included in this supposed timeline merge? Even if you ignore the change in both Gordons' physical appearances, there's no way that Grace's Barbara could've been in a relationship with Billy Dee Williams' Harvey. Nor could it be possible for her to become a police sergeant at such a very young age, unless they want to make the movie cartoonish. The events of those comics would either have to be altered heavily, or disregarded completely. And even if those comics are ignored, merging the rest of the Burtonverse in a rebooted DC timeline would still have awkward inconsistencies that need to be addressed.

One might be tempted to argue Keaton's Batman won't make an appearance in Batgirl, but let me remind everyone that the Batgirl directors have gone on record saying a Batman (or as they described it - the "real" Batman) will make an appearance. This is why I believe Affleck will either remain in the DC movie timeline, or he will be replaced by another actor. Either scenarios make much more sense and are far more believable than Keaton becoming the long term replacement.

[thecolorsblend]

This thing of race-swapping redhead characters seriously needs to end. Jimmy Olsen, Lana Lang, Barbara Gordon, Jim Gordon, Garth Ranzz, Mary Jane Watson, Wally West, Iris Allen, the list just goes on.

I could give two you-know-whats about "representation" in general. But I especially resent it when their representation comes at the expense of my representation.

[The Dark Knight]

I've seen these pages posted elsewhere (not sure what the comic is) in relation to the BvS warehouse scene, specifically Batman using grenades against his attackers.



I never had a problem with Batman using the environment to his advantage in order to survive an encounter. Killing not being something he seeks out, but if it does happen it's collateral damage and the reality of being a vigilante without powers.

[The Laughing Fish]

This is why I believe Affleck will either remain in the DC movie timeline, or he will be replaced by another actor. Either scenarios make much more sense and are far more believable than Keaton becoming the long term replacement.

As I said in another post, this aged badly. Way to go on the Batgirl directors in hoodwinking everyone, and to rub insult to injury, Keaton's role in Batgirl appears to be increasingly retconned to the point he's likely unrecognisable from the Burton version. Then again, as The Joker said in another thread, it could be a blessing in disguise because the Burtonverse remains untarnished. It's still disappointing nonetheless.

A week ago, Ezra Miller's Flash and Jason Momoa's Aquaman appeared in this incredibly stupid cameo on Peacemaker, with Superman and Wonder Woman appearing in the background as silhouettes. Apparently, Batman was supposed to be there too, but the stunt actor was cut.



We know why Cyborg was cut because of the obvious dispute between Fisher and the jackasses currently in charge of the studio. So why was Batman removed? We can only speculate, but whatever the reason, I'm glad those two JL members were spared from appearing in that dumb cameo. It's really embarrassing to watch the Justice League being used for some crass, childish joke.

If Keaton ever gets offered to appear in a cameo for that show, let's hope he rejects it. Who knows what sort of idiotic joke Gunn would think of telling at Keaton's expense?

[The Laughing Fish]

An independent survey came out and claimed one in three Americans think Affleck is the best Batman, with Keaton coming in very close as the second favourite.

https://cw33.com/news/batman-survey-ben-affleck-edges-out-michael-keaton-as-best-version-of-caped-crusader/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=t.co&utm_campaign=socialflow

A Batfleck Twitter fan page did some research, and pointed out this was reported by dozens and dozens of news channels. According to them, these channels are owned by a mass media company, that also share ownership in Discovery.

https://twitter.com/BatfleckMovie/status/1500674628926255115

Some fans are pondering whether or not this is merely a publicity stunt or this Discovery testing the waters as the WB merger is coming closer. Whatever the case may be, #MakeTheBatfleckMovie and #RestoreTheSnyderVerse continue to trend.

I'm not going to look too deep into this, I just thought it's interesting to share.

[thecolorsblend]

I don't have a horse in this race. But I am glad that fans are more willing to follow the money now than they have been in the past.

[The Dark Knight]

Watching BvS again for the first time in a long time, and it brought a lot of memories back. What a movie. I love ZSJL but BvS is just better. It's phenomenal how well it has aged. Zack really swung for the fences and had something to say about the world we live in while digging in to the psychology of the characters. He created an interesting, layered mythology and I think Affleck was the best Batman. A bittersweet experience seeing it all again, but I'm so glad it even exists in the first place.

[Travesty]

I like BvS the most out of the entire Snyder trilogy.

[Travesty]

So it just broke that Affleck will return as Batman in the Aquaman sequel.

lol, wtf? WB has no idea what is going on.

[thecolorsblend]

I rly wish WB would either $#!+ or get off the pot already. Either cancel the Snyderverse entirely or else bring it back entirely. But these halfhearted efforts are only pissing me off.