Time to clear out the Batcave — it’s all but officially confirmed Ben Affleck is done as Batman

The drama, drama, drama in Gotham continues, because things aren’t looking good for Batman/Bruce Wayne himself — Ben Affleck. The actor is apparently all but officially out as the Caped Crusader and *cue sad Ben Affleck GIF*.

This is somewhat, well, unsurprising. Reports broke over summer that Warner Bros. was trying to distance itself from Ben Affleck. Then Affleck told Comic-Con’s Hall H “I’m Batman” like 15 times, and we sort of believed him? At the very least, we knew we’d see him in the role in Justice League. Not long after Comic-Con, Affleck’s younger brother, Casey Affleck, said Ben would not return to the role.

Like I said, it’s drama, dram, drama in Gotham.

But now, we maybe, finally have more of an idea regarding what Ben’s future, or lack thereof, looks like at DC. Per Variety, we haven’t seen the end of Batfleck, but the end is near — very near.

"While Ben Affleck is expected to appear as Batman in a standalone Flash movie, it is highly unlikely he will don the cape and cowl in Matt Reeves’ planned standalone Batman movie. The director is said to want to cast the role with fresh talent, according to sources."

Not to mention, DC Films is apparently majorly shaking things up after Justice League didn’t do so hot at the box office — like, a new person might run DC Films — so it appears there’ll be a lot of changes moving forward.

But back to Batfleck: If you’re a fan, hey, at least you’ll (probably) get to see him and The Flash appear together in the latter’s standalone movie. And if you’re ready to say bye to Ben Affleck and hello to another Batman, well there’s Reeves’ The Batman to look forward to.

The question now is, who should don that cape? Let the dream castings begin…