Ben Affleck had packed almost a century-worth of “Batman” mythos into a shelved DC script, according to former storyboard artist Jay Oliva.
Oliva, who left DC in 2017, teased in a recent interview with Inverse that Affleck’s take on “Batman” would have been an unprecedented interpretation of the Caped Crusader superhero.
“I can’t really say too much other than it was fucking awesome,” Oliva said. “I’ve worked on a lot of Batman things and what was really cool about it was, it was tying together a lot of really cool Batman storylines that had never been really explored. It was the best. It was amazing.”
He continued, “Ben’s story was going to cover something that had never really been covered in comics but was building off of storylines in the Batman mythos over the last 80 years and approaching it from a new kind of perspective. It was very clever and there were a lot of things about it that I really loved that I wish that had come to fruition.”
Oliva noted that Affleck, who co-wrote the script with Chris Terrio and Geoff Johns, had multiple drafts completed.
“From my understanding, there were a couple of drafts of it,” Oliva said. “When I was brought on, I don’t know whether it was the second draft or something, but it was what Geoff Johns and Ben [Affleck] had shown me.”
He added, “It was a really great project in the beginning. Ben had to step away for personal reasons, and I totally understood, but the time that I spent with Ben working on the project was fantastic. Maybe someday I can spill the beans, but I still can’t talk about it.”
Affleck parted ways with the Batman film in 2019 after being signed on to write, direct, and star.
“I tried to direct a version of it and worked with a really good screenwriter but just couldn’t come up with a version,” Affleck said at the time. “I couldn’t crack it and so I thought it’s time for someone else to take a shot at it. They got some really good people so I’m excited.”
Cinematographer Robert Richardson revealed that Affleck’s script was going to be set in Arkham Asylum and focus on Batman/Bruce Wayne’s own mental illness. The film was titled “The Batman,” which later was written and directed by Matt Reeves with Robert Pattinson starring.
Affleck reprised his role as Batman for 2023’s “The Flash” and announced that he is “not interested” in directing a Batman movie for DC under new co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran.
