Due to the release of "Wonder Woman" and "Justice League" later this year, Batman himself, Ben Affleck departs from the role of director for The Caped Crusader’s movie. He is still involved as the producer and co-writer. Pairing up with DC’s living legend, Geoff Johns, Affleck is currently working on the perfect script and picking up references from the masked vigilante’s 75-year comic book publications.
Batman’s next director, Chris Nolan (again)? J.J. Abrams?
With Ben Affleck’s departure, the studio needs to find a suitable replacement to bring Batman to the big screen.
Matt Reeves, the director of "War of the Planet of The Apes," is reportedly on the shortlist. Many fans dreamed of another Christopher Nolan directed Batman film, but it is very unlikely after he stated he would not have any more involvement with DC movies after his role as executive producer in last year’s Batman v Superman. Since the introduction of DC Extended Universe with the release of 2013’s "Man of Steel," (which was greatly influenced by Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy) the studio needs a director who brings the bitter, old, gritty, and slightly hopeful Batman to the big screen. The movie itself needs to correspond well with the earlier entries and theme in the franchise, followed by great story and visuals.
J.J. Abrams could do the film justice with his experience in both ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Star Trek,' which is very well-loved by the fans, and he is a good friend of Zack Snyder, the man who starts the whole DCEU project.
What DCEU had in store for Batman
Warning: Slight "BvS" Spoilers ahead!
Back in December, the central problem of the movie was the script.
Both Ben Affleck and the studio confirmed it later that month. Zack Snyder used the critically acclaimed Frank Miller’s 1986 graphic novel ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ as his primary influence for Affleck’s Batman in "BvS." Many have suggested that the role is the best part of the movie with many comparing it to Ben Affleck’ Batman with Christian Bale’s.
DCEU’s Batman is an older, much more experienced version of the Dark Knight. There’s still questions about the movie’s plot and whether or not it is going to tell an origin story or a straight sequel after the events of "Justice League." In ‘BvS’ there’s a scene where Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne sees Robin’s costume with a sentence written over it with yellow spray paint that says “HAHA, JOKE’S ON YOU BATMAN.” Fans speculate that Robin is already dead in the DCEU and the Joker killed him. That alone is a strong plot point to make a solo Batman movie. Will the studio start the film from there? If that is the case, then ‘Death in the family’ story arc could be the primary source. In that story, Dick Grayson’s successor of the Robin identity, Jason Todd, gets brutally killed by the Joker. Well, without a director on board, there’s no telling what story will the movie will tell.
