Casey Affleck was only joking about Ben hanging up Batman suit
Maybe it’s time Jared Leto’s Joker was recast, because another Oscar winner has taken to terrifying Batman fans with his humor.
Casey Affleck said in a recent interview that big brother Ben would not be returning as Batman — but it turns out he was only kidding.
“I think he was an OK Batman,” Casey, 42, joked on WEEI’s “Dale & Holley With Keefe” radio show on Tuesday before saying, “He was great … He’s a hero, so he had something to channel and work with there. But he’s not going to do that movie [‘The Batman’], I don’t think, sorry to say.”
When the hosts appeared shocked, a wide-eyed Casey quickly added, “Is that breaking news? I was just kind of making that up.”
Ben’s future with the DC franchise has been in question since July when The Hollywood Reporter claimed that the “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice” star was hanging up his cape after November’s “Justice League.”
However, fans of Ben as Bruce Wayne have nothing to fear right now. An insider told Page Six that Casey was, in fact, speaking in jest and that Ben plans to remain in the role as long as the studio will have him.
What’s more, Ben himself said last month he has no plans to leave the franchise and that he believed rumors began to swirl when he turned over the directorial duties on “The Batman” to Matt Reeves.
“Let me be very clear: I am the luckiest guy in the world. Batman is the coolest f—king part in any universe, DC, Marvel,” Affleck told fans at San Diego Comic-Con, adding that several Warner Bros. executives specifically told him they wanted him to stay on, gushing, “I’m so thrilled to do it.”