Since Christopher Nolan capped off a chapter of Batman with The Dark Knight Rises, fans had had to wait five years before The Caped Crusader finally returned to the big screen.
It wasn’t what many had expected, but one of the few shining lights from last year’s middling mashup, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, had been the introduction of Ben Affleck’s version of the superhero.
He followed up his triumphant debut with an appearance in Suicide Squad, and will soon don the cowl and cape once more for November’s Justice League. But, beyond that is where things start getting a little fuzzy.
Warner Bros. promised a solo Batman movie which is slated to begin production in 2018. Yet, what the film will be, precisely, isn’t clear.
Affleck himself worked on a version, but soon stepped down as director after stating that “it has become clear that I cannot do both jobs to the level they require.” After a brief moment of chaos, that void was filled by Matt Reeves, the director of the critically-lauded last two Planet of the Apes movies.
When he took over, Reeves made it clear that he had ditched the original script that Affleck had wrote, and would be starting on a new story. What this new take entails, however, is still rather hazy, with the filmmaker suggesting a more Hitchcockian-type thriller, a clear deviation from the 'fun' direction that the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) seems to be heading towards.
While we patiently wait for the i’s to be dotted and the t’s to be crossed, new reports released earlier today have seemingly left more unwanted question marks over the future of Batman.
According to Reeves, the studio approached him with the promise of taking the character in a direction that could go outside the Justice League continuity. In other words, the new Batman film will not be part of the DCEU, a bizarre decision that will only confuse fans even more.
If Reeves’ Batman is not part of the DCEU, then that would suggest that Ben Affleck will no longer be portraying the Batman after Justice League, a claim supported by The Hollywood Reporter.
“Matt Reeves’ The Batman, for example, is intended to not be connected to the Justice League universe but to be set in a different time period and star another actor,” the article explains.
The comic book world has never really been contiguous, but it’s becoming more and more apparent that Warner Bros., sans Wonder Woman, is throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks without any form of fastidious planning.
They best get their shit together, and fast.
Photocredit @ Warner Bros. Pictures
