Ben Affleck Is Taking His Sweet Time Getting THE BATMAN Into Production

If there’s one thing about the WB’s management of its DC Extended Universe (DCEU) that deserves scrutiny, it’s the way it stacked its slate so that it’s in a constant sprint- without any time to adjust and reassess its trajectory as the films come out.

What do I mean by that? Well, by the time the springboard for the DCEU came out (Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice), its follow-ups (Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman) were already pretty much done filming. This meant that they couldn’t necessarily learn from the mistakes of Dawn of Justice, or properly digest what fans and critics felt about the direction the DC universe was moving in. Making matters worse? The next DC tentpole, Justice League, was forced to enter production mere weeks after Dawn of Justice came out.

So the production cycles for DC’s upcoming films for the next couple of years are in a somewhat frenzied state at the moment, with lots of overlap and very little time to adjust. Wonder Woman will come out in June, Justice League in November, The Flash was supposed to come out in March of 2018 but that looks doubtful since it’s currently officially director-less, and then we have Aquaman in October of 2018.

There was an assumption last week that The Batman might get slotted somewhere between The Flash and Aquaman in 2018, since the film is a high priority for the studio. And yet…now it would appear that Ben Affleck’s solo Batman movie isn’t going to arrive until 2019. Or maybe 2020? Who knows? According to Affleck, despite whatever reports you may read out there he’s in no hurry whatsoever to get The Batman made until he thinks it’s 100% ready.

We still have to get a screenplay and get it together,” Affleck told the New York Times. “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, the right idea, 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.” 

It’s true, Affleck’s sights are currently set on Live By Night, so it’s going to take some time before he can devote himself fully to The Batman. 

Interestingly, he’s also very aware of the stellar work done by previous Batman directors Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan. He has big shoes to fill, and it sounds like that’s one of the other reasons it’s so important to get The Batman right.

If I could, there’s nothing I’d love more than to direct a stand-alone iconic, great Batman movie. But it’s been done. Chris Nolan did three really great movies,” Affleck added. “I’m mindful of that. I’m not in any hurry to jam the mediocre movie down the pipe. I really want to make sure, if we do it, we get the great version and one that’s worthy of tradition of guys like Tim Burton, Chris Nolan, and Christian Bale.

So it would appear Affleck is determined to be the exception to the current DC trend of jamming all of these projects into each other which, to this point, has yielded ugly results where the films do well financially but are lambasted by fans and critics alike. 

This means that The Batman could be a fair bit of a distance away. Are you prepared to be patient and wait until Affleck thinks he’s ready to let his Caped Crusader finally have a solo outing? 

It sounds like it could be a win-win for everyone involved, if you ask me. No sense risking another mediocre DC movie.

SOURCE: Comic Book Movie

Night Terror Banner   GenreVerse FOR FANBOYS, BY FANBOYS Have you checked out LRM Online’s official podcasts and videos on The Genreverse Podcast Network? Available on YouTube and all your favorite podcast apps, This multimedia empire includes The Daily CoGBreaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, GeekScholars Movie News, Anime-Versal Review Podcast, and our Star Wars dedicated podcast The Cantina. Check it out by listening on all your favorite podcast apps, or watching on YouTube! Subscribe on: Apple PodcastsSpotify |  SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play
Share the Post:

Join Our Newsletter

LRMonline header logo

LRM and the GenreVerse Podcast Network is your one stop spot for all your film, tv, video game, geek needs.

© 2024 All Rights Reserved.