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29th Jul 2022

Ben Affleck returning as Batman for ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’

Simon Bland

Batfleck is also due to make an appearance in The Flash

Jason Momoa has taken to Instagram to confirmed rumours that Ben Affleck’s Batman will once again return in DC’s upcoming sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

“REUNITED bruce and arthur,” gushed Momoa in the comments under a recent picture of himself and Affleck. He continued, adding: “love u and miss u Ben WB studio tours just explored the backlot alright. busted on set all great things coming AQUAMAN 2 all my aloha j”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the image was posted shortly after visitors on a recent backlot tour of Warner Bros. studios spotted the Good Will Hunting Oscar winner filming scenes with his Aquaman co-star.

 

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A post shared by Jason Momoa (@prideofgypsies)

Affleck’s Batman – which quickly earned the moniker ‘Batfleck’ by avid superhero fans – was last scene in 2017’s Justice League and again in its fan-demanded recut which was released in 2021.

During the time between these two releases, Affleck, 49, revealed that he was stepping away from the character due to ongoing pressures surrounding the role. Up until that point, he’d played Bruce Wayne in 2016’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and briefly in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad that same year.

Despite being due to appear in a stand-alone movie entitled The Batman directed by Matt Reeves, Affleck shared his reasons for dropping out to the New York Times in 2020, explaining that “I showed somebody the Batman script,” before adding: “They said, ‘I think the script is good. I also think you’ll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through again.’”

As a result, the role of the Dark Knight was ultimately passed to Robert Pattinson, resulting in Reeves’ critically and audience acclaimed self-titled movie which was released earlier this year.

Just a few years ago, Affleck – who recently married his former fiancée Jennifer Lopez earlier this month 20 years after they broke off their initial engagement back in 2004 – surprised fans by revealing that he was returning to the cowl in The Flash alongside Tim Burton’s Batman Michael Keaton and his Justice League co-star, Ezra Miller.

That film is due to hit cinemas on June 23, 2023, despite its titular star being embroiled in a range of headline-making incidents. Now fans will be able to enjoy one last hit of Batfleck when Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is released on March 17, 2023.

Meanwhile, having appeared in part one of the character’s stand-alone series, it is still unclear how much of a part Amber Heard will play in the sequel following her recent high profile defamation trial with former husband Johnny Depp.

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