The relationship between a comic book movie fan and the inevitable franchise reboot is that of ex-lovers debating whether to give it another go. Fraught with distrust, a fanboy or -girl may twist and turn in bed, failing to find sleep while being kept up with thoughts of the pros and cons of returning Batman's call.
Such has been the case ever since the announcement that Ben Affleck would play Batman in the upcoming "Batman v Superman" reboot in the DC universe. The collective desire to take an axe to the bat signal may have never been stronger as fans yearned for Christian Bale.
Out of this aching, a fan theory has risen from Brazil to reassure fans Affleck isn't actually going to play Bruce Wayne. According to this theory, Bale will return and the new installment is actually part five of director's Christopher Nolan universe, rather than some new iteration of the masked hero.
Total Spoiler editor "Rick" wrote what must be a multi-thousand word analysis (unfortunately, highlighting text isn't possible on the website) into how the marketing for "Batman v Superman" has been misleading, setting up multiple plot twists that will apparently be revealed come the release date.
Rick claims that both "Man of Steel" and this new movie are actually in the Nolan universe, and that Affleck will not be playing Bruce Wayne but a different comic book character named Deathstroke. This superhero has also donned the Batman identity in the comic books and has his own butler, which could explain why Jeremy Irons would then be playing a non-Alfred butler character in "Batman v Superman."
Further theorizing, Rick also believes that Jared Leto is not playing the Joker in the other upcoming DC movie, "Suicide Squad," but instead is playing Robin -- a direct continuation from the role originally played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "The Dark Knight Rises." Remember Gordon-Levitt played John Blake, who was revealed to be Robin by the end of the film.
Out of the long, long fan thesis, a few of the more compelling points are that the "Batman v Superman" batsuit looks similar to the Deathstroke-as-Batman suit from the comics. Affleck's most memorable line from the trailer, "Do you bleed? You will," is close to the Deathstroke quote, "I will make you bleed."
The movie title also leaves out the "s" in "vs," supposedly meaning that this is movie "V," or the fifth installment in the franchise, rather than a new non-Nolan timeline. If you weren't aware, Nolan and his wife, Emma Thomas, are also listed as executive producers.
So are you willing to take Batman back? You could go out on to your roof, turn the bat signal on for mood lighting and see whether Bale or Affleck shows up. Or, if you'd rather play it a bit more cool and not have to wait around for a dark enough night for a bat signal to work in a light-polluted metropolis, "Batman v Superman" is scheduled to premiere March 25, 2016, in the U.S.
H/T Cosmic Book News
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