Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton to both return as Batman for ‘parallel universe’ Flash movie

Ben Affleck is to reprise his role as Batman in a DC movie set within parallel universes.

Affleck, who was previously thought to have walked away from the part, will star alongside previous Batman Michael Keaton in The Flash, with Ezra Miller expected to reprise his role from Justice League.

Directed by It’s Andy Muschietti, the film will be an adaptation of Flashpoint, a 2011 crossover comic in which The Flash, aka Barry Allen, crashes into multiple dimensions, with many occupied by different Batmans.

“[Affleck’s Batman] is a very substantial part of the emotional impact of the movie,” Muschietti told Vanity Fair. “The interaction and relationship between Barry and Affleck’s Wayne will bring an emotional level that we haven’t seen before.

“It’s Barry’s movie, it’s Barry’s story, but their characters are more related than we think. They both lost their mothers to murder, and that’s one of the emotional vessels of the movie. That’s where the Affleck Batman kicks in. I’m glad to be collaborating with someone who has been on both sides of the camera, too. He understands.”

Affleck’s return to the Batman role is a surprise, as it was widely believed he had left the franchise all together.

The Oscar winner told The New York Times earlier this year that he had bowed out of a Batman solo project due to the pressure placed on his health. He was initially signed to write, direct and star in his own Batman movie.

“I showed somebody the Batman script,” Affleck said. “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.’”

A fan-demanded director’s cut of Justice League, which will feature new footage written and directed by Zack Snyder, will debut soon on the US streaming platform HBO Max.

A solo Batman movie directed by Matt Reeves, and starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, will resume filming in London in September. Production was postponed earlier this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.