"The Batman" - NO SPOILERS

[The Dark Knight]

My guess.

Deathstroke sets loose some classic foes from Arkham Asylum, much like Bane in Knightfall. Batman takes these villains down over the course of the movie. But instead of becoming exhausted, Batfleck perseveres. He fights Deathstroke at the end, which culminates in the biggest and baddest Batman fight of all time.

I'd be down with something like that.

[The Laughing Fish]

Batfleck, aka the king, has spoken again:

"[Deathstroke] just seems like a great counterpart to Batman. They're similar in terms of skillsets, they're similar in terms of tone, and he's never been utilized in a movie before which is really, really exciting."

I knew those Arkham games would become a source for inspiration to Hollywood. 

Cue in snobs decrying "the movie will look and feel like a video game like BvS". 

I used to hate the term "the Batman" because it made him seem like a thing instead of a person. Then I realized that was cool as hell lol. So now I love it, so I'm all good with this title.

That's what I like about it, m'self. It calls to mind things like "the wolfman" and whatnot. It sets Batman up a horror character, a monster... for criminals.

I figured it gave the impression to the rest of the public that he's an urban legend too.

[Slash Man]

It makes him sound like a mythical creature. Which I totally like (doesn't hurt that it was formally the character's name at one point).

Somehow I didn't like when the animated series was titled The Batman. I guess it just seemed like it was trying to hard to differentiate from the previous animated series, which people just called "Batman."

[The Laughing Fish]

It appears that news about the movie and its title were premature because Affleck has said there's nothing confirmed yet.

"I mentioned the other day... it's been around for a long time, the movie... there is no Batman movie happening yet, we're still trying to figure it out, you know, get the script and budget and all that stuff. And someone said, 'what are you calling it?' and I had said, like, back when we were promoting another movie, I was like 'we don't have a name for it, we're just going with The Batman or Batman movie', and I said that, and everyone was like 'Affleck announces the title of his Batman movie.'"

Source: https://www.comicbookmovie.com/batman/ben-affleck-backtracks-on-the-batman-comments-there-is-no-movie-happening-a145758

[Catwoman]

I'm just the messenger 

[The Joker]

I'm just the messenger 

[Catwoman]

[The Laughing Fish]

Despite Afflec raining down on the fun, Joe Manganiello reckons filming will begin some time next Spring.

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2016/10/17/the-batman-deathstroke-actor-joe-manganiello-says-solo-film-shoots-spring-2017

The plot thickens.

[The Laughing Fish]

American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis started a rumour where he heard WB executives were criticising the solo Batfleck script, but has now backtracked from his claims and regretted saying anything in the first place.

Source: http://www.cbr.com/you-know-that-batman-script-rumor-bret-easton-ellis-regrets-starting-it/

I'll give Ellis the benefit of the doubt. He Tweeted that BvS was one of the best films he saw this year five or so months ago, so I don't think he has an agenda.

[The Dark Knight]

This quote by Joe Manganiello is very much worth mentioning:

When I met Ben we sat down and we talked about, you know, the role. We talked about the movie. His take is a fresh take but I think the audience is going to be surprised. Because it's a road that no one's really gone down that's completely integral to, you know, who Batman is. And I think it's gonna be refreshing but at the same time completely familiar. But it's going to take this franchise in a direction that I think a lot of people are going to be really happy about.
It's going to be gritty and action packed and cerebral and all of those elements that people love about Batman.

Any guesses?

I'm thinking the death of Robin will be featured, which is something new to the films but still 'completely familiar', given the character also broods over his parents frequently. I also predict it will be more of a detective thriller merged with action seen in the BvS warehouse.