Ben Affleck Confirms Tentative Title for His Batman Movie, Explains Why Deathstroke is the Villain

Ben Affleck is currently promoting his latest movie, The Accountant. But unsurprisingly, he’s being bombarded with questions about his role as Batman in the DC Extended Universe. Affleck is starring in a standalone Batman movie, which he is also directing and co-writing. It was recently confirmed that Deathstroke, played by Joe Manganiello, is the villain in this film.

Now, in a few interviews, Affleck has revealed new details for the movie. In an interview with Associated Press, he confirms that the planned title is…. *drum roll* … The Batman. While he says that this title is subject to change, that’s the one they’re going with at the moment. This has been a heavily speculated and rumored over the years, so it’s nice to hear Affleck confirm it…for now, anyways.

In a separate interview with Collider, Affleck was asked about having Deathstroke as the villain in The Batman. The Dark Knight has a massive rogues gallery, with plenty of options to choose from for a movie. So, why Slade Wilson? “He’s a great villain because… I just had an instinctive feeling that he would match up with him well,” Affleck says. “You know, I’m a big admirer of that character as well, especially in the New 52 the way that they did Deathstroke, and I thought that it could work.”

The filmmaker elaborates on Batman vs. Deathstroke in a third interview, this time with IGN (transcription via CBM). He explains, “It just seems like a great counterpart to Batman. They’re similar in terms of skillsets, they’re similar in terms of tone, and he’s never been utilized in a movie before which is really, really exciting.” He adds that Joe Manganiello is “going to be great” in the film.

The Batman currently does not have a release date, but it is expected to debut sometime in 2018 or 2019. Stay tuned for more as we have it.