Even though it never saw the light of day, there was plenty known about Ben Affleck's Batman movie, including a handful of DC heroes and villains that would have appeared in it. Before James Gunn, David Corenswet, and the DCU, there was the DCEU. This now-defunct super-powered universe featured Ben Affleck as an older, grizzled Batman, well past his superhero-ing honeymoon.
When everything was said and done in the DCEU, Affleck ended up in five films, with roles as minor as single-scene cameos in Suicide Squad to full-on starring roles like Justice League. However, one thing the character never got was his own solo on-screen adventure. That does not mean one was not planned, though.
Affleck was initially brought on to the role with the promise of him writing and directing a DCEU Batman movie. That plan was ultimately abandoned, but key tidbits from the scrapped film have not stopped from making their way to fans.
Every DC Hero & Villain That Would Have Been in Ben Affleck's Batman Movie
Batman
Of course, Ben Affleck's Batman movie would have featured Batman. Affleck's past-his-prime take on the character would have been unique among his Bat-based brethren, as more often than not, a younger Batman, or a Batman just a few years into his vigilante career, ends up the star of Hollywood's takes on the Dark Knight.
Describing how his character differed from other on-screen versions of the iconic comic character, Affleck said his Batman was meant to be an "older, broken, damaged" take on the hero (via GQ). He said that he was excited to showcase his own take on the DC canon with a solo Batman blockbuster, but things quickly went off the rails.
"It started to skew too old for a big part of the audience," Affleck remarked, describing how the DCEU went awry. "I think that’s when you had a filmmaker that wanted to continue down that road and a studio that wanted to recapture all the younger audience."
Alfred
Jeremy Irons' Alfred ended up having a fairly sizable role in the DCEU, popping up in films like Batman v Superman and Justice League; however, he would have reportedly had even more screen time in the potential Affleck-led solo project.
In 2016, Irons told Cinema Blend (via Heroic Hollywood) that Affleck promised that his Alfred Pennyworth would be key to the DCEU Batman film. "In Justice League, we have seven superheroes, and that means Alfred’s not that busy in the movie," Iron posited, continuing, "I said to Ben, 'I hope I’m busier in yours.' And he said to me, 'You will be.'"
Fans ended up getting their Alfred fix with Andy Serkis' take on the character in Matt Reeves' The Batman, but Irons' version of the longtime DC sidekick was never quite given the role he was promised.
Deathstroke
Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke was the DCEU version of that Uncut Gems meme. To paraphrase Kevin Garnett in the hit Adam Sandler thriller, "Why would you show me something if I couldn’t have it?" Fans got a taste of Manganiello's take on the iconic DC villain during Justice League's post-credits scene, setting him up as the central villain of Affleck's solo Batman film.
Over the years, fans have seen several glimpses of what could have been with Deathstroke in the DCEU. In 2024, a storyboard made its way online (via Cinema Blend), showcasing a fight scene from the canceled movie between Affleck's Batman and the masked marksman.
Affleck previously teased what he had planned for the movie's take on Deathstroke, saying he would have been a "nuanced, complex" character and would have been just one of several big bads set to appear in the film.
Jim Gordon
After having the seeds planted for his character in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, JK Simmons' Jim Gordon was another DCEU figure who was left by the wayside almost as quickly as he burst onto the scene.
Simmons (who fans may recognize for his work as another comic book mainstay, J. Jonah Jameson) was set to reprise his role as the Gotham City Police Commissioner/key Batman ally.
In a 2016 interview with Screen Rant, Simmons confirmed his involvement in the DCEU Batman movie. He told the outlet that he was "excited" to work with Affleck on the movie "on both sides of the camera."
Batgirl
As it turns out, Ben Affleck's solo Batman movie was not going to be as solo as some had initially thought. No, this does not mean someone like Superman was going to show up to help the Caped Crusader, but rather another member of the Bat-Family.
Batgirl was confirmed to play at least a minor role in the scrapped film project, according to former DCEU star Joe Manganiello. In 2021, Manganiello revealed the movie would have featured a showdown between Batgirl and his DC villain Deathstroke, with the young hero stepping in for Affleck's Batman for a brief moment (per Comicbook).
Manganiello divulged that the film's climax would have seen "Batgirl [jump] in to try to help Bruce because Deathstroke is so fast." He added, "There was this huge fight in Gotham City where Batman is like, you know, completely afraid because he realizes he’s met someone who can take him."
Riddler
Fans jumped for joy when it was revealed that the Riddler was going to get the big-screen treatment once again in Matt Reeves' The Batman, but it appears as though he was always in the plan for whatever the next post-Batman v Superman Batman project was going to be.
Storyboards from the cancelled DCEU Justice League sequel featured the character. According to the storyboards, the original plan was to have the Riddler recruited to Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom in the Justice League sequel, alongside Deathstroke and Wonder Woman's Doctor Poison. He would have been eventually abandoned somewhere in Brazil to solve the ultimate riddle: The Anti-Life Equation.
Ben Affleck's The Batman would have taken place before this, setting up the Riddler as a significant character in the DCEU, all before he came back in the shelved Justice League sequel.
