Ben Affleck had planned to direct The Batman before abandoning the project

In 2016, actor-director Ben Affleck was announced to head the The Batman project, with filming slated for spring 2017 and a 2018 release. In early 2017 he left the director's chair, and in 2019 he also dropped the lead-actor role. Warner then launched The Batman 2. Director Matt Reeves, who helmed the 2022 film, had to step away from shooting for personal reasons; Steven Soderbergh replaced him to finish the final weeks of principal photography, while Reeves will return for post-production. According to Écran Large, the first The Batman cost between 185-200 M$ and earned nearly 370 M$ in the United States and over 772 M$ worldwide.