The Accountant 2 Can Give Ben Affleck His John Wick Franchise
Ben Affleck never really got a chance to spread his Bat-wings as Batman in the now-defunct DCEU, but it’s undeniable that Affleck has the screen presence and stature to carry an action franchise. So, instead of the fantastical world of superheroes, it’s time to give Affleck a franchise in the form of the slightly less fantastical world of fictional underground rime worlds. That’s why Affleck’s underrated 2016 action thriller The Accountant should focus on becoming the next John Wick when we finally get The Accountant 2.
The Accountant Was A Surprise Hit
The Accountant is directed by Gavin O’Connor and features an all star cast that includes Anna Kendrick, J. K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Jeffrey Tambor, and John Lithgow. The story follows Ben Affleck’s character, Christian Wolff, who is an accountant with autism who runs a massive money laundering enterprise. But, he becomes entangled in a greater conspiracy after he takes on a real company as a client when a US Treasury agent starts looking into his activities.
A Bigger Role For Jon Bernthal
Of course, The Accountant left the door wide open for a sequel with The Accountant 2 and the sequel has already been green lit with a third film also being written. Pre-production of the film started just last month, and the only details are that Jon Bernthal’s character, Christian’s brother, will play a bigger role. Bernthal has also given us great brutal performances as characters like The Punisher, so The Accountant 2 could have a unique twist on the John Wick formula by having dual protagonists.
Martial Artist Ben Affleck
While the first film received relatively mixed reviews, it created a cool criminal underworld and firmly established some solid characters that The Accountant 2 can build on. It also incorporated the Indonesian martial art, pencak silat, which has been used in movies like the Raid franchise. But there could definitely be more movies that use this kinetic form of martial arts, and the Accountant franchise could definitely help it become more well-known.
A Third Film Is In The Works
The Accountant also had some decent success at the box office despite some middling reviews, so The Accountant 2 could really take off if it’s able to get the story right this time. The John Wick franchise has been massively popular, and if they do this franchise right, this could definitely be Ben Affleck’s John Wick. Clearly, the studios are at least a little confident in the sequel based on the fact that writing for the third film has already begun before the second film even announced an official release date.
Fans Are Waiting Anxiously
While people who are big fans of Ben Affleck’s Batman may never get to see him in his own film, turning the Accountant franchise into his next big action series could make up for it. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see if The Accountant 2 can deliver and turn the franchise into the big hit that it has the potential to be. The film is scheduled to begin principal photography in March, so hopefully, we’ll learn more about it and get an official release date soon.
