Ben Affleck Returning as Batman in ‘The Flash’

Ben Affleck will don the cape and cowl once again, returning as Batman in Ezra Miller’s “The Flash” for Warner Bros.

Director Andy Muschietti revealed the news in an interview with Vanity Fair. He told the magazine that Affleck got the script last week and agreed this week to join the project. Affleck starred as the Caped Crusader in 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and 2017’s “Justice League.”

“The Flash” will feature Miller’s Barry Allen appearing in parallel dimensions and meeting different versions of DC’s heroes. Michael Keaton, who played Batman in Tim Burton’s 1989 pic and returned to collaborate with the director in 1992’s “Batman Returns,” is also due to appear in “The Flash.”

Affleck had been planning to direct and star in a standalone Batman film for Warner Bros., but stepped down from helming in 2017, handing over that job to Matt Reeves. He decided early last year not to star in the movie, with the role going to Robert Pattinson. Affleck has admitted that he stepped away from the movie due to a drinking problem.

Muschietti, who directed the “It” movies for Warner Bros., praised Affleck’s take on Batman: “His Batman has a dichotomy that is very strong, which is his masculinity — because of the way he looks, and the imposing figure that he has, and his jawline — but he’s also very vulnerable. He knows how to deliver from the inside out, that vulnerability. He just needs a story that allows him to bring that contrast, that balance.”

“He’s a very substantial part of the emotional impact of the movie. The interaction and relationship between Barry and Affleck’s Wayne will bring an emotional level that we haven’t seen before,” the director said. “It’s Barry’s movie, it’s Barry’s story, but their characters are more related than we think. They both lost their mothers to murder, and that’s one of the emotional vessels of the movie. That’s where the Affleck Batman kicks in.”