One of the defining superhero installments in the DCEU franchise became Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, serving as a crucial building block for the Justice League. For the DCEU movie timeline, Ben Affleck was chosen as the next actor to bring the Dark Knight to the big screen.
While the franchise ended its run in 2023 with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Snyder took to Instagram to share a never-before-seen photo of Affleck during his first Batman costume test for the 2016 installment. The Man of Steel filmmaker added in his post, “A black-and-white 4×5 Polaroid I took of Ben during the costume test — first time in the suit. Everything I hoped it would be. #Batman”
This comes shortly after Snyder shared a new photo of Henry Cavill as Superman on October 17, 2025. Affleck portrayed the DC icon in Suicide Squad, 2017’s Justice League, as well as the original version of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which he even shot new material for ahead of its 2021 release on HBO Max.
The Hollywood star finished his run by coming back one final time in The Flash movie in 2023, marking his final time donning the suit. Affleck was also initially set to star, direct, and write his own solo film, titled The Batman, until it got retooled into a reboot for Robert Pattinson, with director Matt Reeves helming it.
The Caped Crusader is set to get reimagined in a new interconnected DC franchise, as DC Studios is working on a Batman movie in the DC Universe, from director Andy Muschietti. The project is still being written, and there is no release date set for the reboot yet.
The DCU’s take on the Gotham hero has shown up through the animated Creature Commandos TV show, where he appeared through a flashback, as well as in Circe’s future vision. A Clayface movie set in James Gunn’s franchise is on its way, as the September 11, 2026, installment will give more glimpses of the Dark Knight’s city.
However, The Brave and The Bold movie will not be the only project featuring Bruce Wayne in the coming years, with Reeves set to direct The Batman – Part II, which is slated to open in theaters on October 1, 2027. Principal photography is scheduled to begin in 2026, with Pattinson reprising the titular role.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is available through home media release and on streaming.
- Release Date
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March 25, 2016
- Runtime
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152 minutes
- Director
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Zack Synder
- Writers
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Chris Terrio, David S. Goyer
- Producers
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Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder