Ben Affleck to return as Batman for HBO Max

Now that Zack Snyder's back, it seems Ben Affleck has changed his mind too

It appears that Ben Affleck will finally be returning as Batman on HBO Max, the newly launched streaming service from AT&T and WarnerMedia.

Speculations about his return as Gotham's only hope had surfaced in May and now claims of Affleck signing a contract with the streaming service have been made, according to Cosmicbook. Affleck will also be involved in additional appearances related to HBO Max and Zack Snyder Justice League movies.

Affleck's new contract

"Ben has indeed signed a new contract and he is coming back," the outlet quoted Taylor Murphy of The Cultured Nerd as saying.

Murphy added, "The official announcement is expected to happen either at DC FanDome or during JusticeCon. One of the two, we're going to get that announcement but it's going to happen before September. We're going to get the official announcement and we are going to get the Snyderverse Batman is going to be returning."

He went on to shoot down the notion that Michael Keaton was brought in to replace Ben Affleck as Batman, as well as Robert Pattinson being a replacement, as what is being created is a DC Multiverse.

"They are bringing everybody back," says Murphy. "This is planned... This is a design because of Zack. This is a plan that they're moving forward with. I mean, I keep saying it is a great time to be a DC fan."

Murphy pointed out how the artwork released with the DC FanDome virtual convention looked like the 'DC Multiverse.'

How come Affleck agreed to return?

Affleck will once again be given the control of his Batman, the creative liberty of which is being quoted as the reason behind his agreement. 

Geoff Johns had earlier been blamed for Affleck's sudden take off, given that he was known to cause interference with his decisions involving the script. But now that Zack Snyder is back and the Snyder Cut is getting released, Ben Affleck has agreed to return as Batman, also on HBO Max.

Snyder was the one to bring Affleck on board as his choice for the DCEU Dark Knight, and when Snyder left Justice League, Affleck decided it was time for him to go to. 

According to Murphy, Affleck agreed to return as Batman on HBO Max because he didn't want to take anything away from the new Robert Pattinson Batman who is starring in the upcoming Matt Reeves movie.

"I think a lot of people misconstrued why he left in the first place," explains Murphy. "A lot of people will say, 'Oh, Ben left because he almost killed himself in the role...' They take it further than it really was. Essentially, Ben took the role because of Zack. Zack convinced him, he sold him on the pitch, he loved the idea, and he built that loyalty to Zack. When Zack left, Ben still stayed behind. He said, 'I can make this work. I'll do this. I'm still producing this. I'm going to make it happen.' But 'it' started happening to him, too."

"Ben started losing his control then - what he wanted to do with the role, he started losing it, and then he lost his interest in it. Eventually, his own health concerns came up and he realized if he kept going down this path, he wouldn't get what he wanted, he wouldn't get to do the role he signed up for, and it was just compromise after compromise," Murphy concluded.

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