Guillermo del Toro's The Batman

***Guillermo del Toro's The Batman*** was set to be a film in Phase 2 of the DCEU after del Toro's previous contribution with *Man of Steel II: Enter the Knight*.

## Overview

Soon after the release of *Man of Steel II: Enter the Knight,* del Toro was in early discussions to return for the solo Batman venture to be released sometime in Phase 2. Del Toro was at first excited about the project but as more and more meetings went on, he became less and less enthusiastic about the project. He left the project mutually in late 2014. He had this to say after he left:

> "I don't want anyone to think that I left out of anger or shame or anything like that. I have directed 3 comic book movies before *Man of Steel II* and I was very proud of the film despite getting little influence with casting. I love the film very much, and I think that was the reason I eventually left. I don't think I could catch lightning in a bottle again. I also felt that I owed them for my movie. They gave me a break with the film by having creative control. I felt that if I continued on, they felt like they had to be owed something and that's the idea I got with every subsequent meeting. But I don't hold that against them."
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Despite this, del Toro stayed on as producer and helped subsequent director David Fincher retain creative control of the project.

## Plot

Del Toro has released some information in regards to what his plans for his film would be.

> "I didn't get very far before I left. I wrote a treatment about Batman going further and further into the realm of magic. That idea really interested me and I thought it was something I could do very different with the character of Batman. We have gotten silly, gothic, in depth character analysis, and even a dark and realistic take on Batman. I wanted to take advantage of Batman being in a bigger universe with the many things that make the DC universe what it is."
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Del Toro stated that the movie would've included Zatanna and the League of Assassins, and would begin in the realm of reality, and as the film went on, it would've introduced characters, concepts, and ideas from Neil Gaiman's *Sandman* universe. Various mystical characters would've also made cameos in the film. He jokingly referred it as a backdoor pilot to a Justice League Dark film.

## Cast

* Ben Affleck as Batman/Bruce Wayne
* Unknown as Zatanna
* Unknown as Talia al Ghul
* Unknown as Ra's al Ghul
* Unknown as Deadman
* Unknown as Etrigan
* Unknown as John Constantine
* Unknown as Dream
* Unknown as Death
* Unknown as Johanna Constantine
* Unknown as Lucifer

Despite rumors, del Toro never considered Matt Ryan in the role of John Constantine, as he left the project around the time the TV show premiered.

## Reception

When ideas and then the official treatment of del Toro's original Batman film was released, it received overwhelming praise from many hardcore DC fans, as well as fans of del Toro's work. However, many Batman fans stated the movie wouldn't have worked as a Batman film and stated that del Toro really just wanted to make a *Sandman* movie with Batman in it.

Many fans pleaded for del Toro to make it into an audiobook or its own comic series but del Toro decided against it out of respect for the DCEU and of Fincher's film.