Of all the cancelled DC film projects of the last decade, Ben Affleck’s Batman movie lives in an elseworld of myth and missed opportunity. The passion seemed to be there, with reports first mentioning how Ben Affleck would not just star as the titular character, but also direct the then-upcoming project. Now, Joe Manganiello’s memoir, Bloodlines, gives us a clearer sense of what the project was aiming for, and how it would have been inspired by one of the Arkham games.
According to Manganiello, the film was grounded in a variety of inspirations that made it unique to every other DCEU entry. Most notably, the movie would have borrowed its climactic action sequence directly from one of the most iconic moments in Batman: Arkham Origins, the big fight against Deathstroke that would have used the game’s choreography as a foundation.
Another inspiration Manganiello shares is that Affleck envisioned the film as a psychological thriller inspired by David Fincher’s The Game, with the villain Deathstroke dismantling Bruce Wayne’s life piece by piece after being led to believe Batman murdered his son. These tactics included killing Commissioner Gordon, kidnapping Alfred, and breaking into the Batcave. It would’ve been an escalating revenge plot that would eventually even include this universe’s version of Batgirl.
Arkham Origins’ Deathstroke Trailer Would Have Inspired Film’s Climactic Action Sequence
Affleck Ultimately Left the Project After His Experience on Justice League
The most eyebrow-raising part for fans of the Batman: Arkham video games, is how closely the film’s final sequence was planned as a showdown inspired by the CGI fight sequence created by Blur Studio, the team behind the Batman: Arkham Origins trailers. Manganiello doesn’t name the specific moment, but anyone familiar with the game’s marketing cycle will immediately picture the stylized, high‑impact fight with Deathstroke that was directed by Deadpool’s Tim Miller.
Modern Batman adaptations have increasingly embraced the same creative DNA that made the Arkham and recent Lego games so beloved. Matt Reeves’ The Batman pulled heavily from classic comics, but was directly influenced by the Arkham series in how it treated Gotham as its own character and leaned into long‑form detective storytelling. The film’s grounded noir tone, armor-oriented suit, and focus on Batman as an investigator were natural extensions of what Rocksteady and WB Montréal established years prior.
Affleck ultimately stepped away from the project following his difficult experience on Zack Snyder’s Justice League. The emerging details suggest his Batman movie might have been one of the closest live‑action attempts to capture what made the Arkham games special.
- Released
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October 25, 2013
- ESRB
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T for Teen: Blood, Drug Reference, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 3
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer, Local Co-Op
- Franchise
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Batman
