Rumor: Ben Affleck’s ‘Batman’ To Appear In ‘Suicide Squad,’ Solo Movie In The Works

The comic book world rumbled slightly when last week it was announced that Tom Hardy had exited the star-studded lineup of "Suicide Squad." No reasons were given for his departure, and we guessed that perhaps it was nothing more than a scheduling conflict, but rumors suggested otherwise. The folks at Latino Review reported that Hardy wasn’t pleased with "drastic changes" to the script that saw more screentime given to Deadshot and the Joker, and less to his villain Rick Flagg. And now comes another twist in the tale. Warning, *spoilers ahead*.

Following their report, Latino Review brought forth another story that dove deep into the plot of "Suicide Squad," revealing that Jared Leto‘s Joker breaks out of prison at the end of the film during a riot. They also add that in Amanda Waller’s zeal to track down superheroes and super villains, Batman comes on her radar, but is "only mentioned and shown on camera footage." But according to Forbes, Ben Affleck‘s role in "Suicide Squad" and his future in the DC-verse could be much, much larger.

The financial site claims that Batman will have an "in-story scene" in "Suicide Squad," and that the Joker’s escape at the end of the film will help lay the foundation for a developing solo Batman film. The new Batman flick will be inspired by Frank Miller‘s "The Dark Knight Returns," and also deals with the Caped Crusader chasing down an on-the-lam Joker, with Gotham City Police Commissioner Ellen Yindele coming into the tale as well.

In short, expect to see Batman in "Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice," "Suicide Squad," "Justice League: Part One," "Justice League: Part Two" and, Forbes says, yet another drop-in appearance in an unspecified DC flick (our guess is "Wonder Woman"). And this is all presumably before the solo movie (which could see other masked heroes playing along with Affleck’s Batman). Phew!

Thoughts? Let us you know what you think about Warner Bros.’ rumored Bat-plans below.