This weekend saw some worrying rumours surface on the future of Ben Affleck as Batman. Well, now the actor has moved to shoot down any concerns that he’s about to walk away from the Caped Crusader gig.

Previously, reports suggested that Warner Brothers were looking to replace Affleck as the World’s Greatest Detective once Justice League hits the big screen this November. Affleck himself has already said how he won’t do upcoming solo effort The Batman unless he was completely happy with the story, and that was soon followed by the news that he had decided against directing the film. On the back of that, War for the Planet of the Apes’ Matt Reeves was brought in to replace Affleck in the director’s chair, and Reeves this month revealed that he’s decided to completely throw out the screenplay in place from Affleck and DC’s Geoff Johns. Along with all of that uncertainty, The Batman is believed to be the start of a new trilogy of Bat-flicks, and so it was getting to a point where it may be best for all parties if Affleck left the role now rather than midway through said trilogy.

Moving to clear all of this up, though, Affleck has spoken at Comic-Con to confirm his commitment to the Dark Knight. Speaking at the Justice League panel, he reiterated, “Let me be clear, Batman is the greatest fucking part in the world. I am thrilled to do it.”

So, there we have it, straight from the Bat’s mouth.

As well as Batman being a pivotal piece of November’s Justice League, the character’s role goes much further than that in terms of the future of the DC Extended Universe. Not only was Affleck as Batman the hands-down greatest thing about last year’s dour Batman v Superman, but, as well as The Batman on the horizon, Warners have brought in Joss Whedon to develop Batgirl and Chris McKay to handle Nightwing; both movies that should have at least some sort of involvement from the Caped Crusader. Add in to the mix the potential for cameo roles in Suicide Squad 2 and Gotham City Sirens, plus the supposed launch of a trilogy with The Batman, and you can see just why the Bats character is so important to Warner Brothers and their DCEU moving forward.

For now, we’re taking Affleck on his word here. But, as ever, we’ll bring you more on all of this if and when anything more develops.