During the promotional tour for The Accountant earlier this month, Ben Affleck dialled back expectations for The Batman (which may or may not be the official title; the director and star hasn’t decided yet) when he revealed that they’re still working on the script and some way from receiving the official green light as the budget and other details are worked out.

However, it now appears as if the movie is a little further along than first thought as Joe Manganiello – who will play the villainous Deathstroke – has seemingly spilled the beans on when production is going to begin. Asked about his recent recovery from an unknown illness, the actor responded: “Great, man, just getting ready to go shoot Batman in the spring.”

He’s clearly been told by Warner Bros. when The Batman will start shooting then, and assuming he hasn’t made a mistake (and it’s honestly hard to see how that could be), we should start getting casting news and some proper updates about this movie over the next few months. Currently, rumours point to it being released in 2018, and this fits with that.

With the cat out of the bag, it would be nice to see the studio make things official regardless. Affleck will obviously reprise the role of Batman here, while both J.K. Simmons and Jeremy Irons are also set to appear as Commissioner Jim Gordon and Alfred Pennyworth. It remains to be seen who else will show up, but sure Jared Leto’s Joker will make some sort of cameo?