There have been several speculations that Ben Affleck will be directing the Batman standalone film that will be released in 2018. Fans of both Affleck and the DC superhero have been excited about the rumors, although the speculations have never been confirmed.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Affleck spoke about the reasons why he decided to take on the role of the Caped Crusader. One of the factors was that he wanted to get an in-depth look on how to direct a big budget film.

"I thought if I was going to direct a movie like this, which I would like to do at some point, I need to have something of a refresher course of how these movies are done," Affleck said.

Affleck's statement was immediately translated as a confirmation of the rumored DC film, tentatively titled 'The Batman.'

The recently single actor also revealed his initial reaction to being cast as Batman.

"My first reaction was, 'Are you sure?'" he said. "At the time I was 40, 41, and had just finished Argo, and I felt like 'This seems like a strange way to get to Batman.' But [director] Zack [Snyder] convinced me."

Zack Snyder recently spoke out about the so-called 'gratuitous' carnage in the climax of 'Man of Steel.' The director explained that it proved that there are always consequences when superheroes fight. In the case of 'Man of Steel,' several people were killed, including employees of Bruce Wayne.

Affleck also talked about how the carnage in 'Man of Steel' would lead to Batman's distrust of Superman.

"One of the things I liked was Zack's idea of showing accountability and the consequences of violence and seeing that there are real people in those buildings," he said. "And in fact, one of those buildings was Bruce Wayne's building so he knew people who died in that Black Zero event."

'The Batman' is slated for release on November 2018.