Zack Snyder hosted a 3-day fan event in Pasadena, CA, called Full Circle, which celebrated and screened his DC Snyderverse films. On the last day, Ben Affleck made a surprise appearance where he reflected on his approach to Batman, revealing fascinating details about what could have been in his canceled movie.Before Matt Reeves's The Batman, Ben Affleck was set to direct and star in a Batman film that would have featured Deathstroke as the main antagonist. However, this film did not come to fruition due to studio pressure. Since its cancelation, various details surrounding the Batman film have come out, such as its similarities to Fincher's The Game, Batgirl having a prominent role, and the main antagonist, Deathstroke, being compared to a shark-like villain, similar to Jaws or the Terminator, who would dismantle Batman's life after learning his true identity as Bruce Wayne in Zack Snyder's Justice League, which Affleck was able to shed further light on at Full Circle.During the Q&A on the final night of Full Circle showing Zack Snyder's Justice League, Affleck was asked by a fan what villains he had planned for his Batman film other than Deathstroke. Affleck said his plans “were to make interesting, nuanced, complex characters.” The actor and director expanded on this sentiment, saying, "in particular to the character you mentioned. I kind of feel like either you do - I'm just going to get into my own preference here - but either you do a kind of massive one villain that is so formidable you just can't imagine how your protagonist is going to be able to overcome it. Or you have to really sort of populate kind of, you know, Injustice - these big group villains - where you have to get all these different characters." Affleck's take was leaning towards the former, similar to how Reeves tackled Riddler in The Batman, but the tone was very different, as Reeves described Affleck's Batman script as "James Bond-ian" and action-driven.
Affleck continued, detailing that “at the time” he was “really trying to hone in and focus on that character and get into depth and detail about it to make him seem as impressive as I felt there was the opportunity to do. That's the only detail I have for you." During the early stages of production on the Batman film, Affleck spoke to Collider about why he wanted to use Deathstroke, who was not only set up perfectly at the end of Zack Snyder's Justice League, echoing Matt Reeves' previous statements about the script connecting to the DCEU, but also because Affleck had an “instinctive feeling that he would match up with him well,” further suggesting that he is “a big admirer of that character,” and “especially in the New 52.” Akin to the sleek armored design of Deathstroke, concept art for Affleck's Batman shows the character in a similar aesthetic, an original design that would have been special to see on the big screen.
Affleck's Batman is the only version of the character who has not had his own solo movie, as Warner Bros. was adamant about moving away from the Snyderverse early on. As a result, the fan campaigns for “Make The Batfleck Movie” are as strong as ever. Other factions of the fanbase, who believe their initiative has fallen on deaf ears at WBD, have moved towards other avenues, such as the "Sell Snyderverse to Netflix" campaign that aligns with the studio’s business strategy in leasing DC IP to third-party streaming services. Snyder was asked if he would be “overjoyed” by the possibility of continuing his Snyderverse on a streaming service like Netflix at Full Circle. The director responded, “of course,” in a heartfelt response. If the "Snyder cut" is any indication, crazier things have happened.
Source: Full Circle (via The Direct)