By Travis Johnson
“…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.”
That’s Ben Affleck addressing his upcoming Batman movie, which he’s supposed to be directing and starring in for DC/Warner, while discussing his new crime epic, Live by Night, with The Guardian. The big takeaway: it may not be as “upcoming” as previously imagined.
The good folks at Warner must be apoplectic over this little nugget. Given the critical mauling that Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad took, having an Oscar winner locked in to direct the next movie starring their tentpole character must have soothed a lot a troubled brows. Provisionally titled The Batman, the film was supposed to see the Dark Knight go toe-to-toe with Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke. Now, with one almost throwaway answer, the whole thing looks shaky – and by extension, the whole DC Extended Universe.
The big question is what has prompted this? It could simply be negotiation-by-media, with Affleck trying to leverage more money and/or concessions out of his producers. It could be that Affleck, having recently completed work on Zack Snyder’s Justice League movies, is really not too happy with their direction and the narrative strictures they place on his use of the Batman character. It could be that, having worked hard to position himself as a prestige actor/director in the Clint Eastwood mold, Affleck has decided that playing a children’s comic book character for an extended period is doing him no real favours. Heck, it could be anything, but this is a development worth keeping tabs on if you’re a superhero fan.
The big answer is probably, “Hi WB, I would like more money for doing this, so this is my cryptic way of making hype… so you give it to me, so I don’t leave… also I would like all of the red M&Ms in a huge bowl with one black M&M in my trailer, every day of shooting this film.”