The DCU, the house that James Gunn built, is currently on fire. Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl (2026) is quickly becoming one of DC’s biggest box office disasters after it opened to just $38 million domestically and $68 million worldwide. That’s lower than the DCEU’s The Flash and Black Adam. And, of course, not even a third of Superman‘s $125 million domestic launch last year.
Variety reports that the Milly Alcock film, which cost around $170 million to make and another $120 million to market, is now expected to lose somewhere between $80 million and $120 million for Warner Bros. In fact, with each passing day, the film’s $300 million breakeven point seems further and further out of reach.
Analysts have all pointed to a number of factors for Supergirl‘s failure, including superhero fatigue, word of mouth, mixed critic scores, competition from Disney’s Toy Story 5 and even the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But most of the talk from fans around the film has been about the film’s villain, Krem of the Yellow Hills. The character is played by Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts, who has become a punching bag in reviews and social media threads. Many called the Krem bland and boring.
But there’s one interesting detail everyone seems to have missed: Matthias Schoenaerts was nearly Zack Snyder’s Batman.
The Batman Who Almost Wasn’t Batfleck
Before Ben Affleck officially came on board as Bruce Wayne in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, he was on the fence about signing on. During that period, Snyder considered Schoenaerts for the role, even going as far as to do storyboards and designs concepts with the actor in the cowl. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Snyder revealed that Schoenaerts was very close to playing Batman. “I was talking to him a lot about it,” Snyder said of Schoenaerts. “He never got in the suit, but I did do a bunch of mock-ups of him, because Ben was on the fence. And I don’t blame him. Everyone should be on the fence when you’re asked, ‘Do you want to play Batman?’”
According to reporting at the time, Schoenaerts had his own hesitations too, namely that the Snyderverse version of Bruce Wayne was written as a man in his mid-40s, while the actor was still in his 30s. But Affleck ultimately said yes, and the rest became DCEU history.
What a Schoenaerts Batman Could Have Looked Like
It is worth sitting with how different the entire Snyderverse might have been had Affleck passed and Schoenaerts stepped into the role instead. Affleck brought movie-star wattage and a battle-worn, world-weary energy to his Bruce Wayne, an interpretation that became one of the more divisive elements of Batman v Superman and Justice League but also one that fans eventually came around on.
Schoenaerts, by contrast, was a respected European character actor known for raw, physical performances in films like Rust and Bone and Bullhead, with none of Affleck’s built-in box office draw or franchise recognition at the time.
A younger, lesser-known Batman would have fundamentally changed the marketing around Batman v Superman, a film that was riding on pitting two of DC’s biggest superheroes against each other for the first time on screen.
Without a recognizable A-lister under the cowl, Warner Bros. may have needed to lean even harder on Henry Cavill’s Superman to anchor the film.
It also raises the question of whether a younger Batman would have altered the entire tone of the SnyderVerse, since so much of Affleck’s performance was built around the idea of an aging, disillusioned vigilante nearing the end of his crime-fighting career. A Schoenaerts version, closer in age to a Bruce Wayne earlier in his journey, would likely have demanded a different script entirely.
The Restore the Snyderverse Movement Needed Matthias Schoenaerts’ Batman
There is also a deeper irony here for the corner of the fandom that has spent years pushing the Restore the SnyderVerse movement. As it stands, Affleck returning to the role looks increasingly unlikely. He is in his early 50s now, well past the point where Warner Bros. or DC Studios would realistically build a new film around him as Batman. Also, he has made it clear more than once in interviews that his focus has shifted toward directing and producing his own projects rather than returning to franchise filmmaking, which, of course, includes the role of Batman.
Had Schoenaerts been the one cast back in 2014, things would look completely different today and there might have even been more hope to continue the Snyderverse. He is not only younger than Affleck but would cost a lot less to take on the role.
Of course, Matthias Schoenaerts ultimately did find his way into the DC Universe, just not as Batman. Unfortunately, as Krem of the Yellow Hills, he is now part of one of the studio’s most expensive box office disappointments in years.
