Ben Affleck's Role In The Flash Movie Explained

Ben Affleck's role in The Flash is a complex one, both because of the character's purpose, and due to alternations of DC's changing movie landscape.

Summary

• Ben Affleck's Batman makes a brief but important appearance in The Flash, showcasing his impressive crime-fighting skills and close friendship with other Justice League members.
• The film's vague ending leaves the future of the DCEU uncertain, including the fate of Ben Affleck's Batman. The Flash's decision to alter reality creates the Flashpoint universe and replaces Affleck's Batman with the Michael Keaton iteration.
• Affleck's Batman scenes in The Flash highlight his best traits and serve as his likely final appearance in the role. Affleck has expressed regret that his time as Batman has ended but hopes for the next iteration to maintain the same level of integrity.

Ben Affleck’s Batman appears once again in The Flash, playing a key role in both the film itself and the DC Extended Universe writ large. The DCEU was said to “reset” with The Flash, making way for the new DC Universe, led by DC Studios CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran, but the film’s vague ending leaves the final state of the DCEU, to say nothing of Ben Affleck’s Batman, unclear. Affleck’s iteration of Batman is one of the most comic-accurate live-action iterations of the Caped Crusader, though his characterization has been met with controversy and Ben Affleck himself, unfortunately, had a short-lived tenure in the iconic role.

Debuting in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Ben Affleck quickly earned the adoration of many viewers while others took issue with his use of lethal force against criminals in several scenes. This controversial decision was not made frivolously, however, as it showed that Batman was losing his way, since he had a no-kill rule before the events of Dawn of Justice (and reinstates it after the film). While Batman would go on to have a far better-received role in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Ben Affleck stepped down from the role for the sake of his health, preventing his planned solo film and future Justice League appearances from happening.

Why Ben Affleck's Batman Is In The Flash Movie

Ben Affleck’s Batman plays a brief but important role in The Flash’s first act, pursuing and defeating Al Falcone (with help from Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman). The chase sequence showcases Batman’s new vehicle, the Batcycle, as well as cape-gliding and hand-to-hand combat moves that appear inspired by the Batman Arkham video games. The chase ends on a humorous note, with Batman, Al Falcone, and The Flash all coming into contact with Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth, causing them to reveal uncomfortable truths at an inconvenient time. While not all of the Batman jokes make sense, it was an exciting final action sequence for Affleck’s Batman.

Affleck’s Batman continues to serve as both a close friend and mentor to Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen, advising against his proposed use of time travel to prevent his mother’s murder. Batman is not seen again for the rest of the film, as Barry Allen ignores his advice and alters reality, accidentally creating the Flashpoint universe (a hybrid of the proper DCEU and the Tim Burton Batman universe), replacing Affleck’s Batman with the Michael Keaton iteration. Nevertheless, The Flash refers to Affleck’s Batman as his best friend later in the film, something that helps him to quickly befriend Keaton’s iteration.

The Flash's Original Ending For Ben Affleck's Batman Explained

Affleck’s scenes in The Flash showcase his best traits, demonstrating his incredible skills and experience as a crime fighter as well as his humanity, sense of humor, and close friendship with fellow Justice League members The Flash and Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, the scenes are bittersweet, as The Flash was always going to see Affleck replaced, making them likely his final appearance as Batman. Initially, the film would have ended with Michael Keaton’s Batman and Sasha Calle’s Supergirl meeting Barry Allen alongside Henry Cavill’s Superman and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, but this was ultimately scrapped once the decision to soft-reboot the DCEU was made.

Michael Keaton’s Batman was intended to be the long-term replacement for Affleck’s iteration, and Calle’s Supergirl was, at different points, set to either replace Cavill’s Superman or join him as another Kryptonian hero for the DCEU. With the franchise’s soft reboot imminent, Keaton’s Batman has no more planned appearances and Cavill will be replaced by David Corenswet as Superman. Calle’s Supergirl is not due to return, though Calle wishes to continue in the role in the new DCU. Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman might return for more films, but there are conflicting reports on her Wonder Woman future. The Flash, ultimately, ends with a gag, having George Clooney appear as Bruce Wayne.

What Ben Affleck Has Said About His Batman Role In The Flash

Due to the combination of Batman’s sense of humor and genuinely heartfelt connection with Barry Allen in his Bruce Wayne, Ben Affleck’s favorite performances as Batman are in The Flash. In one interview, Affleck stated that he felt he “finally figured it out,” in regards to the Batman role, expressing hope that the next iteration of Batman in the DCU’s The Brave and the Bold maintains the same level of integrity in its iteration of the Caped Crusader. Affleck even expressed regret that his time as Batman has ended, though his initial decision to leave the role was for the sake of his health.

Had the DCEU not been slated for a reboot and Affleck remained in the Batman role, he would have starred in at least one more solo Batman movie and two more Justice League installments. The Batman traits that Affleck enjoyed portraying so much in The Flash likely would have been present in his unrealized DCEU appearances, with Affleck’s Batman training Carrie Kelley as Robin and battling Deathstroke, who would be aware of his secret identity (revealed to him by Lex Luthor in Zack Snyder’s Justice League). Affleck’s Batman would have also had a more proper sendoff, sacrificing himself to defeat Darkseid and prevent a nightmarish future for Earth.

Is The Flash Movie Ben Affleck's Last Appearance As Batman?

For now, it appears that Affleck’s final appearance as Batman was in The Flash, though he was potentially set to appear in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in a cameo. The film reportedly has two Batman cameos filmed, one featuring Ben Affleck’s iteration and the other with Michael Keaton’s version. The Keaton cameo was likely based on the now-defunct plan for the DCEU, in which Keaton replaced Affleck as Batman. Affleck’s scene making it to the final cut of Aquaman 2 seems unlikely, given The Flash’s ending and the imminent soft-reboot that will result in an all-new iteration of Batman.

Considering that Aquaman 2 will be the final film in the proper DCEU before its soft reboot, there is a chance that Ben Affleck’s Batman cameo may still appear in the final film as a last hurrah for his iteration of the Dark Knight. Since there will be Elseworlds films in Gunn and Safran’s DCU, the original DCEU itself could show up again someday, complete with Ben Affleck’s Batman returning once again. For the time being, however, the bittersweet final appearance of Ben Affleck’s Batman is in The Flash.