An underutilized DCEU star confirmed Zack Snyder's plan to conclude Ben Affleck's time as Batman with one of the most beloved DC Comics tales ever. In crafting Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zack Snyder recruited Ben Affleck to play his older, grizzled Bruce Wayne, inspired by Dark Knight Returns. In part due to Snyder's exit from the DCEU, Affleck proved underutilized in his seven-year tenure that concluded in The Flash, which saw the actor literally replaced with George Clooney in an unexpected gag due to time-travel shenanignans. That was all for nothing as James Gunn is hiring a new Bruce Wayne for the DCU and Robert Pattinson is carrying the separate The Batman franchise, but in years gone by, Snyder had his own plan to conclude Affleck's tenure in style.
Batman v Superman actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who played Thomas Wayne in a flashback to the tragic double-homicide that orphaned the Dark Knight, recently sat down with the Happy Sad Confused podcast. The conversation turned to Zack Snyder and the DCEU, focusing on the long-discussed plans to eventually adapt Flashpoint and have him replace Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne as Batman.
For those unaware, 2011's Flashpoint sees Barry Allen travel back in time to prevent his mother's death, creating a twisted world where Aquaman's Atlanteans and Wonder Woman's Amazonians are heading for World War 3, and Bruce Wayne, not his parents, was killed, leading Thomas Wayne to become Batman.
When asked by Josh Horowitz how real the Flashpoint talks were, Morgan explained that Snyder was clear from the get-go that he had "bigger plans:"
"I remember when he called me to do the role, and I was like, 'It's really nothing,' and he was like, 'I got bigger plans.' And I was like, 'Zack, what does that mean, man?" And he's like, 'Can you just trust me?' And I'm like, 'Oh, of course, and I'm gonna do it without this incentive of there's more.'"
Snyder's aspirations for Morgan to play the Dark Knight predate 2016's Batman v Superman and date back to 2009's Watchmen press tour, in which the filmmaker told The Comedian actor that he "would love to see [him] play Batman:"
"I think we did have a conversation. We talked, I remember we started talking about Batman together, him and I, on the press tour for 'Watchmen.' And he was like, 'I would love to see you play Batman.' And I was like, 'Bro, [don't even tease], stop, I'm gonna have f***in' a heart attack right now.' And so I knew what it was, and I think at one point he looked over and just said, 'Flashpoint,' and I was like, 'Oh f***, I almost like don't wanna hear it.'"
He added how he was "so shocked" when Snyder ending up departing Warner Bros. mid-way through Justice League's development and never truly returned, aside from finsihing up his cut of the movie for HBO Max:
"But there was so much immediate fan speculation, everybody's so smart these days and knows that world so well. And I was so shocked that Zack and Warner Bros. didn't work out, because I love his stuff, and I love that he leans toward the darkness."
While Morgan is a longtime friend, fan, and collaborator of Snyder, he was clear that he "really [likes James Gunn] and his work at DC:
"Not that I don't love [James Gunn], I do, I mean, I really like Gunn, I was supposed to do a movie with him as well, about a serial killer, I wasn't even a superhero film. Both guys I love, but Zack was so versed, and he knew this world, I thought, better than anyone... It's in his bones."
As Flashpoint was poised to conclude the SnyderVerse, Jeffrey Dean Morgan would only have been Ben Affleck's temporary, one-off Batman replacement, paving the way for the next full-time Bruce Wayne to enter the fray afterward.
Flashpoint was adapted very differently in 2023's The Flash, with Morgan's Wayne Sr. being replaced by a much older Bruce Wayne, played by Michael Keaton, the star of 1989's Batman. Morgan eventually responded to losing his Batman gig, joking about how Keaton "swooped in and took my gig."
What Was Zack Snyder's Flashpoint Going to Be About?
SnyderVerse concept artist Jay Olivia previously confirmed that Rick Famuyiwa's canceled Flash movie would have featured Eobard Thawne and set up Reverse-Flash/Zoom as the DCEU's "big baddie." He explained that Thawne would have lingered in the background of Snyder's Darkseid saga, leading to a Flashpoint adaptation that would "reboot the universe" with a new cast.
Much like The Flash movie that fans actually got, Ezra Miller's Barry Allen presumably would have led the charge in Snyder's Flashpoint, although it seems the adaptation would have been much more comic-accurate. Moments like Thomas Wayne becoming Batman, Barry ressurecting his mother, and Aquaman vs. Wonder Woman undeniably could have thrived after years of build up.
The DCEU's Martha Wayne, who was entangled in Batman v Superman's infamously controversial "MARTHA" scene, was played by Lauren Cohan. That casting will be rather iconic to fans of The Walking Dead, in which Cohan's Maggie Rhee and Morgan's Negan Smith are archrivals who now lead a New York-based spin-off together on AMC, The Walking Dead: Dead City.
In the Flashpoint timeline, not only did Bruce's father, Thomas, become Batman, but his mother, Martha, became a version of the Joker as the two Waynes had vastly different reactions to their son's brutal murder. Depending on how deep into the Flashpoint comics the SnyderVerse had gone, audiences may also have seen Cohan become the Joker, replacing controversial actor Jared Leto.
