Long time rumoured, but finally confirmed, Ben Affleck will be directing a solo Batman movie according to the chairman of Warner Bros (and he really should know…)
Whilst we did take a few shots at Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in our ‘Deconstructing BvS’ edition of Geektown Radio, one thing we both agreed on was that Affleck completely nailed it as the Bat and as Bruce Wayne.
Much as I like the visual style of Zack Snyder’s work and think he does a great job putting films that look like comic books up on screen, the script for BvS was lacking, and some of the directorial choices needed reigning in. In Affleck you have someone who is not only a huge comic book fan, but also has the screen writing and directorial chops to create something extremely special.
Affleck’s agent had already let slip that Ben had written a Batman script, so it’s entirely possible we’ll see him return as The Dark Knight sooner rather than later. The next time we see him don the cowl appears to be in Suicide Squad on the 5th Aug this year, then again in Justice League Part 1, Nov 17 2017. There are currently 2 open slots for DC movies on their slate – 5th October 2018 & 1st November 2019, so it would be a fair bet one of those will be Ben’s Batman.
As far as I can tell, this is the first time we’ve had a superhero movie directed and written by a guy who’s not only won an oscar for screen writing, but also for best picture. This could be the Batman movie comic book fans have been waiting for.