The actor confirmed the news on Twitter on Wednesday.
Ben Affleck is out as Batman.
The 46-year-old actor will not be returning for the Matt Reeves-directed standalone Batman film, titled The Batman, ET confirms. The movie, which is scheduled for release June 25, 2021 will focus on a younger Bruce Wayne storyline.
"Excited for #TheBatman in Summer 2021 and to see @MattReevesLA vision come to life," Affleck tweeted on Wednesday.
The news comes after years of speculation that Affleck, who played the caped crusader in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and 2017's Justice League, would not be reprising the role. The actor previously told fans in July 2017 that him stepping down as director of the standalone Batman film didn't mean he wouldn't be playing the character.
"Let me be clear. I'm the luckiest guy. Batman is the coolest f**king part in any universe, DC, Marvel," Affleck told the crowd. "I am so thrilled to do it. I know there's this misconception that because I'm not directing it, that maybe I wasn't enthusiastic about it. It's f**king amazing! I still can't believe it after two films."
"Kevin Tsujihara, Sue Kroll and Toby Emmerich said to me, 'We want you to be our Batman,'" he continued. "Matt Reeves, doing it, I would be an ape on the ground for Matt Reeves, never mind be Batman. It's incredible! I'm really blown away and excited. It’s a great time in the DC universe… and you can see why I am so excited to play Batman."
Reeves recently revealed at a Television Critics Association Conference that The Batman won’t be an origin story in the vein of Frank Miller’s Year One series, but rather a "defining" story about the character.
“Obviously, we’re not doing an origin tale or anything like that. We’re doing a story that is definitively Batman though, and trying to tell a story that’s emotional and yet is really about him being the world’s greatest detective and all the things that, for me, since I was a kid, made me love Batman,” he said, per Slash Film.
Henry Cavill, meanwhile, has also been rumored to be leaving Superman behind -- but Jason Momoa told ET that's definitely not the case. See more in the video below.
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