The latest report confirms their exit from the roles.
It was a long time coming, a rumour we had heard circulating for months and months, but it does look like it has been finally brought to an end.
On Tuesday morning, Variety published a story about the delay on the standalone The Flash movie (originally due for 2019, now pushed back to 2021) which involves a revolving door of screenwriters and directors, as well as star Ezra Miller caught up filming another Warner Brother mega-franchise, Fantastic Beasts.
In amongst that report was the following nugget:
“The studio is not moving forward with Batman and Superman movies featuring Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill, respectively. It is expected to recast the Dark Knight with a different actor.”
If you’re thinking why it isn’t expected that Clark Kent’s character is set to be recast, that is simply because there was no new Man Of Steel movie in development, with Superman not expected to appear on screen again until Shazam! in April 2019, and even then it would likely amount to little more than a cameo.
On the other hand, Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes) has been in active development on directing The Batman, the first standalone Bruce Wayne movie since The Dark Knight Rises. However, while there have been heavy rumours on everyone from Jon Hamm to Jake Gyllenhaal taking up the role, the latest rumours tell us that WB and DC are looking to go a lot younger with the new take.
Despite all of that, it does seem like there is a massive overhaul of the entire DCU in the works, with Aquaman, Wonder Woman 1984, Joker, and Birds Of Prey all still confirmed for release between now and Summer 2020.
As for Affleck and Cavill, they’ll be just fine. Affleck already has The Accountant sequel on his slate, as well as a modernised Agatha Christie adaptation titled Witness For The Prosecution, and Cavill is taking the lead on Netflix’s huge series The Witcher, based on the hit video game.
For now, it might be a case of all’s well that end’s well.
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