If there is a “Batman curse” affecting those who have pulled on the cape and cowl on the big screen, it is not always a lasting one. George Clooney recovered from portraying a detested version of Gotham’s dark knight for Joel Schumacher in 1997’s Batman & Robin to become one of Hollywood’s most celebrated actors and film-makers. Christian Bale is rarely out of the awards season spotlight for long, and Michael Keaton is currently experiencing a gilded career revival that has even seen him return to superhero movies.

It would be fair to say, however, that the role can be something of a poisoned chalice. Clooney was perhaps fortunate to recover from the critical drubbing handed to Schumacher’s film (his co-star Chris O’Donnell never really did) and Val Kilmer’s career certainly hit the skids after he took the lead role in 1995’s Batman Forever. Both actors were unfortunate to have been cast as Batman while Warner Bros encouraged Schumacher to indulge his penchant for kitsch and camp as a reaction to Tim Burton’s gothic take on the caped crusader in 1989’s Batman and 1992 sequel Batman Returns.

Current dark knight Ben Affleck must also attract sympathy, having signed on the dotted line at a time when Warner seems confused as to how to portray Batman on the big screen. One minute, he is the angry gun-toting lead of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the next he’s both cracking smarts and showing remorse for his earlier mistakes in the current Justice League.

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Nobody quite knows which Batman will turn up in Matt Reeves’ upcoming solo outing for the caped crusader, The Batman, but it’s looking increasingly likely that it might be portrayed by somebody other than Affleck. Interviewed by USA Today in the run up to Justice League’s release, the Oscar-winner refused to confirm his commitment to the project he was once in line to direct, saying merely that it remains “something I’m contemplating”. Perhaps more worryingly for Warner, Affleck hinted that the film might represent an endgame for his brief sojourn in the cape and cowl, adding: “You don’t do it forever, so I want to find a graceful and cool way to segue out of [the role].”

Appearing as Batman in three movies in two years (Dawn of Justice, that misjudged Suicide Squad cameo and Justice League) would once have been considered plenty. But we live in an era in which Robert Downey Jr has portrayed Iron Man a staggering eight times in the last nine years (including cameos) and has at least two more appearances to go in the forthcoming Avengers: Infinity War and its 2019 sequel. Moreover, if Affleck quits now, his stint as the caped crusader will be considered an abject failure, doomed to be remembered alongside Clooney’s single Batnippled turn in “worst Batman” lists from now until the end of time.

With Warner’s DCEU movies performing well at the box office, it always seemed likely that studio execs would persevere with Affleck until they stumbled on a formula designed to get the best out of him. Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, despite all the critical brickbats, did well enough financially to leave this latest superhero cinematic universe with the chance to fight another day. But Justice League, despite marginally more positive reviews than its predecessors, now looks likely to be the weakest-performing episode yet.

There are rumours that Jake Gyllenhaal, who was once considered by Warner for the film that eventually became Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, is being lined up to replace Affleck. This doesn’t quite solve the problem of how Reeves’ supposedly noir-tinged take on the caped crusader is supposed to sync with Justice League’s bombastic epic of CGI and Marvel-style inter-superhero wisecracking. But the move would give the War for the Planet of the Apes director the chance to kick off a new Batman era with a fresh face.

Part of the problem with the entire Batfleck fandango is that it is hard to imagine this new Batman as distinct from the famous actor who plays him. When Bruce Wayne makes sexist comments towards Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman in Dawn of Justice, we are reminded of Affleck’s jockish display more than a decade ago during publicity for the movie Jersey Girl. When Batman spends most of his time saying sorry for his part in the death of Superman in Justice League, it feels like he is apologising for Dawn of Justice’s failure to pass muster. Audiences want to see Affleck fully invested in the role and knocking his performance out of the park; reminding us why we love the caped crusader in the first place. Instead we get an actor who seems like he would rather be just about anywhere else.

Would Gyllenhaal be any better? Certainly, this is an actor who has proven time after time that he can disappear into roles, and he seems a better fit for Reeves’ mooted new trilogy, with its reported emphasis on Batman’s famous detective skills (as opposed to the colossally framed, gun-toting, ultra-violent Batfleck of Dawn of Justice).

The current incumbent might not get his wish to leave the DCEU on a high. But judging from his undercooked performance in Justice League, Affleck would be unlikely to complain too heavily about an enforced departure. It could well be in everyone’s interests to let this ham-fisted, bully boy dark knight finally do something in keeping with the superhero’s traditional penchant for shadowy understatement, and just slip off gently into the Gotham night, never to be seen again.

