Now, Ben Affleck Sounds Like He Doesn't Know if He Wants to Direct THE BATMAN; So Here's Everything We Know So Far
Ben Affleck is playing a game of "Yes, No, Maybe So" with DC fans. His newest comment to TheGuardian makes it sound like now he's not sure if he's ready to step into the director chair for the unofficially titled THE BATMAN solo movie.
“That’s the idea. But it’s not a set thing and there’s no script. If it doesn’t come together in a way I think is really great, I’m not going to do it.”
While we here at DailySuperHero.com expect Affleck or someone high up within the walls of Warner Bros. to follow-up on this quote, it does in fact sound like a red flag for the DC Extended Universe. Mostly due to Affleck claiming there's "no script" when in fact he has talked about there being a script over the past 6-plus months. Let us breakdown everything we know over the past few months.
Just a couple of weeks ago, in mid-December 2016, Affleck sounded very confident in saying that things were on track to begin filming in spring 2017.
“We’re on the right track with that and everything is coming together [for spring]. We’re still finishing up a script. I’m very excited.”
This came a day or two after Affleck told The New York Times, via Batman-News, the screenplay for THE BATMAN was still a work-in-progress.
"We still have to get a screenplay and get it together. … I’m a real believer in not reverse-engineering projects to meet a window or a date, but rather when you get the right story, when the right idea, when the right thing, then you make the movie. That’s what we’re doing, and I’m hoping to get that done. I’m spending a lot of time working on that, but also working on other stuff."
About a month before this, in the beginning of November 2016, a rumor hit stating how there were script issues with Affleck's script for THE BATMAN. This followed a report, just days before, from Affleck who said he was currently working on its script.
“Last night I spent (time) working on the script. I’m in full-on ‘trying to get it right mode’. It’s not the kind of movie that you can fail quietly at. You have to really be sure that I have something that I feel really confident about before we go forward.”
Going back to summer 2016, Affleck again said he was working on the script to get it right.
"I have a script, we’re still working on it, and I’m not happy enough with it yet to actually go out there and make a Batman movie, for which I have the highest of standards, I would say. That’s something that would have to pass a very high bar for me. It’s not just like, 'Yeah, that might be fun, let’s go try this out.'"
Finally, also last summer, Affleck did some teasing about what he wants his story for THE BATMAN to be.
“[T]he world’s greatest detective aspect of Batman is more present in this story than it was in the last one, and will probably be expanded upon further in a Batman movie that I would do. I think all the great Batman stories are, at their heart, detective stories.
"[There is] room for more humor. It’s not going to be – DC movies I think, by their nature are a little more – gothic, or mythic rather, excuse me, than some comic book movies are. But that movie was very dark and heavy because it was really rooted in Dark Knight Returns which is a heavy, dark book. And this is not that.”
So let's recap all of this as succinctly as possible:
- THE BATMAN will be dark, gritty and have some detective influence which sounds like all the best parts of Batman put into a single movie.
- Summer 2016: Affleck had a script, was working on it and wants it to be right to even consider making and directing it.
- November 2016: Affleck was working on the script trying to get it right, meanwhile, a rumor report claimed the script has issues.
- Mid-December 2016: He was still working on the script and needed to get the screenplay right, although Affleck said things are on track to begin filming in spring 2017.
- January 2017: Affleck hedges on the director role, a bit, and now sounds uncertain if he will direct THE BATMAN, which he says has no script.
To speculate on this just a bit, it sounds like Affleck might not be happy with the direction of things (internally?) at Warner Bros. Especially when it comes to a story he wants to tell in THE BATMAN. Again, this is pure speculation on our part but with JUSTICE LEAGUE wrapped, Affleck can see the bigger picture of the DCEU a little bit better and the story he originally wanted in his script for THE BATMAN may not be the right direction studios executives want within the growing cinematic universe. If this is the case, this could be the meaning behind him saying there is now no script.
There is also a bit of a gut feeling that studio executives — and their confirmed need to meddle with DC super hero movies as seen with BATMAN V. SUPERMAN and SUICIDE SQUAD — might be instructing Affleck to make script changes he's not happy with making. To re-iterate, these are our own guesses and nothing is confirmed or has been heard.
In the end, good thing there is no set release date for THE BATMAN. Fingers crossed things work out because Affleck is good in the role and seeing a solo movie focusing on the detective side of Batman is something fans have wanted to see in the movie for a long time.
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