Going back in time to the early days of the DCEU. After Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, one of the studio’s intentions was to make a movie called The Batman that would be written, directed, and starred by Ben Affleck. This was when Ben was at his peak in terms of creating movies as he did with the Oscar-winning film Argo.
However, due to personal issues, he decided to secede from the director role and give it to Matt Reeves who had only just finished with the acclaimed Planet of the Apes remake trilogy. It was here that the rumors of the ‘DCEU-dissolution’ began. While it didn’t happen in full, Matt Reeves went in an entirely different direction than Ben Affleck, and The Batman eventually starred Robert Pattinson outside of the DCEU entirely.
However, in an interview, he noted that he did read the original script for the film, discussing why he didn’t go on this path:
“The movie was originally going to be directed by Ben Affleck, and the script they sent me had been written by Ben but rewritten by another very talented writer, and when I read it, I was like, ’Oh, I get it.’ It was a standalone Batman film that was centered on Ben’s version of the character, but it was more action-driven than what I felt I could do. I didn’t connect to the movie-in terms of me as a filmmaker. It was very James Bond-ian; it was filled with a lot of set pieces. It could have been a very exciting movie for someone else to do, but it wasn’t for me to do.”
The film would’ve featured Ben Affleck’s version of the character going up against Deathstroke, who was trying to systematically destroy his life due to Bruce Wayne taking his son’s life. Many fans are rallying to #RestoreTheSnyderVerse so that this movie can finally get made.
Source: The Q&A With Jeff Goldsmith
