By this point, we all know that Ben Affleck will no longer direct The Batman for Warner Bros. That much is certain, as the actor announced it last week and shocked us all. What we still don’t know, however, is just what went down behind the scenes that led to this. From rumors of the script not being in proper shape to Affleck not wanting to have to deal with the pressure of both starring and directing, everyone’s got their theories.
Now, adding more fuel to the ever-growing fire is Forbes, who’ve today published a pretty in-depth and very informative report that attempts to shed some more light on the intriguing situation. Earlier, we learned that the original version of the script was set to have a role for the Joker, though whether or not the Clown Prince of Crime is still involved given that there’s been a rewrite is currently unknown.
Following on from that, there’s something else that Forbes’ report mentioned which we thought was worth sharing. They note that once Warner Bros. finds someone to direct The Batman, they’ll be aiming to make a “fresh start” on the film:
“…the project will undergo substantial changes and possible/probably another full rewrite. Warner Bros. is already speaking to several filmmakers about taking over in the director’s chair — including one of my personal longtime favorites to direct a Batman movie, Matt Reeves, who seems to be the frontrunner — and word is the project will essentially get a fresh start once a new creative team has been put together.”
With all the trouble that this project’s been plagued with recently, it’s really no surprise that Warner Bros. is hoping to start over once they’ve assembled a new creative team. Whether that’s a good thing or not is hard to say, as we don’t know too much about what Affleck originally had planned for the Caped Crusader’s solo outing. A lot of fans had faith in his vision though, so to now hear that it’s essentially going to be thrown out in favor of someone else’s ideas is a bit discouraging.
Then again, Ben still remains attached to star and even though he won’t direct, you have to believe that he’ll still have a lot of creative input here. Hopefully, whoever ends up helming the movie takes what he says to heart and doesn’t try to take complete control over the project. After all, Warner Bros. needs The Batman to be a hit, especially now with all the negative buzz surrounding it following Affleck’s departure from behind the camera.
Everything is still very much up in the air, but it certainly sounds like The Batman will be facing a few delays now as the studio attempts to get their new creative team sorted. When they’ll end up doing that remains to be seen, but as soon as we have any further updates, we’ll be sure to let you know!