Those of you who were hoping to see Ben Affleck don the cape and cowl again in The Batman, I have some bad news for you: It's looking unlikely. Not only does the latest version of writer-director Matt Reeves' script reportedly skew towards a younger take on the Caped Crusader (at least in the first act), Warner Bros. is in a state of flux where DC projects are concerned, and Affleck also has a pretty busy shooting schedule that's only gotten busier in recent weeks.

In a THR write-up that recaps the recent executive shake-ups at DC Entertainment and looks ahead to Warner Bros.' DC movie plans, The Batman appeared as a side note to the whole thing. There's no official confirmation yet, but if Reeves' focus on a younger version of Batman is the direction that the film is going, it's unlikely that Affleck would step in to revisit the role he played in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. Your next best chance to see him take on the mantle of Batman once more would be in Warner Bros.' Justice League sequel, but even that is in question at this point.

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Image via Warner Bros.

Admittedly, that's kind of a bummer. I happened to like Affleck's take on both the brooding Bruce Wayne and his hulking bruiser version of Batman. (Whether the scripts lived up to those performances is another matter entirely.) It's looking like Warner Bros. is trying to refocus their DC superhero/supervillain efforts in the years ahead, and Affleck may be the first casualty in that regard. And it's not the first time we've heard rumors to that effect. 

That's fine for Affleck himself since he is keeping plenty busy lately. He's currently filming Triple Frontier for writer-director J.C. Chandor alongside co-stars Charlie HunnamOscar IsaacGarrett Hedlund and Pedro Pascal at Netflix. He's also on board to direct and star in Christopher Keyser's adaptation of Agatha Christie's crime/mystery novel Witness for the Prosecution, and will likely return for a sequel to the crime-drama The Accountant. Affleck was also just reported to be reteaming with The Accountant director Gavin O'Connor for the sports drama, The Has-Been.

Would you like to see Affleck suit up as The Batman again or is it time for new bat-blood? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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Image via Warner Bros.