What If...? – Warner Bros. / DC / Atlas / Stone Quarry / Pearl Street (Ben Affleck's The Batman)

In October of 2014, while production was still occurring on Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it was announced that Warner Bros. Pictures had plans to develop a standalone Batman film within the DC Extended Universe, with Ben Affleck reprising his role. The following summer, it was confirmed that Affleck would also direct the picture, along with serving as a producer through his production company Pearl Street Films, as well as writing the film's screenplay alongside famed comic book writer Geoff Johns. Affleck and Johns finished the first draft of the script in March of 2016, the same period of time when a trimmed-down version of Snyder's film premiered in theaters to overwhelmingly negative critical and fan reception. Affleck's approach to the project was that it would tell an original story while still drawing heavy influence from a wide variety of Batman stories, including Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, the Knightfall trilogy, and the Rocksteady video game Batman: Arkham Asylum. The setting of Arkham was further confirmed by cinematographer Robert Richardson, who would've reteamed with Affleck following their collaboration on the crime thriller Live by Night. The story featured Deathstroke, played by Joe Manganiello, orchestrating a breakout at the asylum to tire Batman and make him vulnerable, systematically dismantling Batman's life and killing those close to him as revenge for the death of his son at Batman's hands, before fighting him in the streets of Gotham. Expected to reprise their roles were Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, and Jared Leto as the Joker. Gordon's daughter Barbara was also a major part of the script, donning her Batgirl costume and allying with Batman. Johns said the film would also explore the death of Robin, which was hinted at in both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad; the former film's co-writer Chris Terrio turned in a rewrite of the script in January of 2017, reuniting with Affleck after having scripted Argo for him, with filming expected to begin midway through the year. However, for a variety of reasons (including troubles with his personal life, the fallout of his divorce, his struggles with alcoholism, and his miserable experience on the set of the Joss Whedon-helmed reshoots for Justice League), Affleck stepped down from the project, and from the role of Batman. While he would eventually agree to reprise the role for additional photography on Snyder's director's cut of Justice League, as well as for appearances in The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, his solo Batman film will forever remain unproduced, tossed aside in favor of Matt Reeves' The Batman. Follow me and ponder the question, "What if...?" Music: "The End of All Things" – Harry Gregson-Williams (Infinite)