Ben Affleck’s Aquaman 2 Return Makes The “New DC Era” Lie Worse

A lot has been promised about a new DCEU era, including by Black Adam star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and yet recent news like Ben Affleck returning as Batman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom makes that new era tease difficult to buy it. Five years after Justice League and more than a year after the Snyder Cut, the DCEU has yet to define a solid plan and stick to it. The Flash was supposed to rework the DCEU by bringing Michael Keaton’s Batman into the canon, but the cancellation of Batgirl and the addition of Ben Affleck in Aquaman 2 indicates that drastic changes may not be happening after all.

While it was likely that Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam would be a sort of franchise of its own given how he approaches his movies as a producer, The Rock’s tease of a “new era for DC” and a “Black Adam universe” was surprising. Black Adam will be followed by Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and The Flash, all of which are direct continuations of previous DCEU stories. The Rock was not the only one to tease a new DCEU future, as Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav confirmed that there will be a 10-year plan for the franchise and a reset in how the DC IP is handled.

However, If the DCEU was indeed heading into a new era, with a full reboot or not, it would not make sense for Ben Affleck’s Batman to be added into Aquaman 2 – even if just as a cameo. Ben Affleck is reportedly replacing Michael Keaton’s Batman cameo in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which by itself is already odd given that Keaton was supposed to replace Ben Affleck as the DCEU’s Batman going forward. Aquaman 2 was originally supposed to come out after The Flash, not before, which in theory explains why Affleck had to replace Keaton’s cameo. However, with the Batgirl cancellation and Michael Keaton’s role in the DCEU reportedly at risk, it doesn’t make much sense for the DCEU to try to “fix” Aquaman 2’s Batman cameo instead of just scrapping it. If the studio went to the lengths of approaching Affleck and convincing the actor to reprise his Batman role once again, then there must be more in store for the original DCEU Batman than it seemed – which goes completely against the idea of a new DCEU era.

Why The DCEU’s Future Can’t Just Be A New Era

What Warner Bros. Discovery seems to be realizing is that, unless a complete DCEU reboot happens, there cannot be a new era for the DC films as the franchise already has an extensive canon with a full Justice League cast. At the same time, a complete DCEU reboot is unlikely precisely because some of the original DCEU elements, such as Jason Momoa’s Aquaman or Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, are just too popular to be scrapped. Therefore, without a complete reboot and having to use its “big guns” like Batman to create momentum, the DCEU’s future cannot just be a fresh start. Instead, it will most likely be a reorganized version of the universe that started in Man of Steel.

The DCEU cannot afford to move from its main heroes and actors in order to sell the idea of a new beginning. Until a complete DCEU reboot happens, the franchise will still be rooted in the canon created by movies like Batman v Superman and Justice League, for better and worse, as proved by Ben Affleck’s Batman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. It will now be interesting to see how Warner Bros.’ 10-year plan for the DCEU plays out, and if there will ever come the day in which the DCEU does go through a full reboot and actually starts a new era.