After weeks of rumors and speculation, Ben Affleck has confirmed he will not direct the planned upcoming superhero movie The Batman. The filmmaker says he still intends to reprise his starring role as Batman, a project for which he’s been working on a screenplay for the last several months.

Source: Warner Bros.

Affleck released the following statement confirming his departure as director: “There are certain characters who hold a special place in the hearts of millions. Performing this role demands focus, passion and the very best performance I can give. It has become clear that I cannot do both jobs to the level they require. Together with the studio, I have decided to find a partner in a director who will collaborate with me on this massive film. I am still in this, and we are making it, but we are currently looking for a director. I remain extremely committed to this project, and look forward to bringing this to life for fans around the world.”

Warner Bros., the studio behind the current slate of DC Comics movie adaptations, issued the following statement about the situation: “Warner Bros. fully supports Ben Affleck’s decision and remains committed to working with him to bring a standalone Batman picture to life.”

Source: Warner Bros.

Whether it’s an oversight or an intentional omission, the statement focuses on the question of director and acting, but makes no mention of the script. Affleck is likely using the extra time to work on the screenplay, but continued buzz that the script is not coming together as hoped makes it possible the omission could be a sign Affleck has done as much writing as he is going to do for now, and is handing it off to someone else at this point — perhaps Geoff Johns, who has been cowriting with Affleck.

Several names are floating around already as being in contention for the director’s chair, including Matt Reeves, Gavin O’Connor, Denis Villeneuve, Matt Ross, and perennial favorite George Miller (I hope Kathryn Bigelow and Peter Berg wind up on the list as well). While there’s expectation for Warner to make an announcement soon, keep in mind there’s also good reason not to rush the decision, since The Flash suffered the loss of two directors already and is now starting over nearly from scratch, and Wonder Woman lost its first director as well. The Batman has already lost one director at this point (despite any claims to the contrary, since Affleck was announced as director and confirmed himself as director a few times), so it would be a huge blow to the project after all of this drama to lose a second filmmaker.

Source: Warner Bros.

With Wonder Woman releasing this summer and Justice League hitting later in the year, Warner could be inclined to take it slow and wait for reactions before they commit fully to a project that still doesn’t have a script they’re happy with. Moreover, if additional changes and delays might be in store for The Batman — more on that in a moment — the studio might prefer to hold off on naming a director until they’re certain where all of the chips are going fall.

I’ve been hopeful and positive about this project and the DCU for the past several years, and have told fans several times — via social media and articles here — to remain calm and to remember that rumors come in all shapes and sizes, and to avoid letting rumors upset them or make them worry unnecessarily. We can’t know what’s going to happen until it happens, I said, and the signs tended to point toward positive developments and plenty of reason to stay hopeful. I even said, you may recall, that while I took Affleck at his word when he publicly insisted he was going to direct The Batman, we should understand that sometimes unexpected things do happen and plans can change, but that if he did hypothetically walk away from the director’s chair it wouldn’t spell doom to the project. A Batman movie written by Ben Affleck and starring Ben Affleck, but directed by Miller, Reeves, O’Connor, Ross, or Villeneuve would still be a great project giving us reason to have faith.

While all of that’s still true, I’m not going to lie to you — the announcement that Affleck won’t direct The Batman hurt my enthusiasm and faith a great deal, partly because an Affleck-directed Batman movie is something I’ve dreamed of for many years, and partly because despite all of the buzz to the contrary I’d become convinced the odds favored him remaining on the project. I was told several weeks ago by a variety of sources that Ben Affleck was probably going to walk away as director, and that his departure was more likely than anyone would publicly admit. I was concerned, but felt reassured when I got other information conflicting with those dire warnings.

Source: Warner Bros.

Yet despite public assurances from Affleck himself and other expressions of confidence that the project was on track, the expected start of production in Spring was pushed back. New rumors of trouble arose, and once again I was warned the odds heavily favored Affleck quitting the project as director. But once again, other factors — most notably Affleck going on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and declaring he would direct The Batman — made me doubt he would really give up the chance to direct a Batman movie, so I felt confident his problems had turned a corner and things would continue to improve.

Sadly, that wasn’t the case after all, and I regret doubting the refrain in my ear warning me the project was in danger and Affleck’s involvement was going to diminish. While I’d not have rushed to publish a story based on that information at the time, since I lacked enough confirmation to feel comfortable basing an entire story around the claims, I would’ve eventually ran stories addressing the overall status of The Batman and would’ve noted the consistent buzz about Affleck quitting as director.

In particular, I’d have pointed to The Batman’s continued scripting problems, his despondency and frustration in the aftermath of Live By Night’s poor critical and box office reception, the sheer pressure and grueling schedule he endured over the past 18+ months, his need to focus on working out personal issues, and the fact he felt exhausted and pressured and somewhat restrained professionally due to the long production schedules required for these big-budget superhero tentpole productions (from May 2014 through October of 2016, the actor shot three different DCU movies while writing another one).

Source: Warner Bros.

Unfortunately, among the things I heard about his departure as director, I heard a few specifics that — if true — lead me to worry there is at least a chance Affleck could also walk away from starring in the picture. I don’t feel those concerns are as likely to bear fruit, and I still expect Affleck will finish the screenplay as planned and then start prepping for the role by getting into “Batman shape” to ensure he’s physically and mentally prepared for the role. That said, I do believe there’s a chance now that Affleck could depart the project as an actor, winding up merely serving as cowriter and producer.

Even assuming he does star in The Batman, I think the odds Affleck might walk away from the DCU after the film have increased. Obviously the pressure and exhaustive production schedules of these blockbuster superhero films, and being so heavily involved not just as a performer but also as a writer and in the editing room and as a producer, contributed to Affleck’s overall feeling that in order to concentrate on rewriting the script and starring in the film, he couldn’t shoulder the directing duties. This is precisely what I talked about in previous articles with regard to what factors could lead him to give up the directing role, and I feel the same factors also raise the question of whether he would be able to focus on his other projects as much as he’d like if he’s constantly committed to these tentpole superhero pictures (a problem that affected Live By Night, in fact).

Source: Warner Bros.

The Batman seems to be facing a few key obstacles now. First and foremost, it needs a good completed script, and apparently this continues to be a real problem. Without a good script, the project won’t go forward — certainly not with Affleck aboard, since I don’t believe he’ll agree to put on the costume again unless he believes the script is at the right place. This is the number one problem to solve now. Second is of course finding a director, which could take a day, or could take a month, or could take a year. Warner might move quickly as they say they will, or they might decide to slow down, or they might try to find someone and simply remain unable to do so. And not to belabor the point, but with plenty of time now to get the project started and completed (since 2018 doesn’t seem to be in the cards) there’s no reason to rush the director selection while the project is still struggling to get a good finished script.

Third, Affleck hasn’t been able to start the sort of intensive physical training necessary to play a superhero character like Batman. And he’s surely not going to go into a “bootcamp” situation until the timing for production is squared away and close enough for him to need to get into that kind shape. Which is all to say that right now he’s in good shape but not “Batman shape,” and so timing will depend in part on his schedule being free not only for the filming but also for intensive physical preparations well before the cameras start to roll.

Fourth, a 2018 release date seems out of the question, but it’s also possible that a hypothetical extended delay — if scripting drags on til late in the year and the director search goes slow — then there’s a possibility (however unlikely it might seem to us now) that production might not get underway until Summer of 2018, and if that scenario played out then it would be hard to ignore the chance the film might not be ready for a 2019 release. Again, this is just a “what if things take too long” hypothetical, but the previous obstacles and slowdowns can’t be ignored, and they have certain implications for how things might go down the road.

Source: Warner Bros.

What seems clear now is, we’re getting Wonder Woman and Justice League this year, we are probably getting Aquaman in 2018 (as long as James Wan doesn’t depart the project), and we are likely to get Gotham City Sirens in 2018 or 2019. I’m no longer as confident the latter film can make a 2018 release date, since I don’t know how much The Batman factors into David Ayer’s decisions and choices for Gotham City Sirens, which is set in the same bat-world and features multiple characters from Batman’s supporting cast of friends and foes. Green Lantern Corps and Black Adam movies look likely to get into production in the next year or two, but I’m hesitant to be too bullish about projects in the early stages.

Besides Wonder Woman, Justice League, Aquaman, and Gotham City Sirens, the other projects that seem most likely to stay alive are The Batman (since a Batman movie will get made one way or the other eventually in the next few years), Man of Steel 2 (since Superman is a big enough brand and two movies featuring him grossed $1.5 billion over a three-year period, despite underperforming), Suicide Squad 2 (which could become a Will Smith Deadshot project, keeping the Suicide Squad branding while serving as more of a stand-alone story for him), and some sort of Flash-Cyborg project (be it The Flash film with Cyborg in a supporting role, the Cyborg film with Flash in a supporting role, or an outright Flash-Cyborg team-up project that gives them double billing or has a Titans branding).

That’s basically the same worst-case scenario list for the DCU that I laid out in a previous article.. But with news of Affleck’s departure from the director’s chair on The Batman and lingering rumors that his involvement in the DCU for the long haul could wind up with more limited screen-time, I am far less confident that a Batman sequel film and Justice League sequel (two other films on my previously published list of “worst-case scenario DCU slate of films) will be guaranteed in a worst-case situation. A Justice League sequel depends on the financial and critical success of both Wonder Woman and Justice League this year, while a Batman sequel depends on the nature and extent of Affleck’s involvement in The Batman.

Source: Warner Bros.

Affleck’s statement yesterday stressed his commitment to portraying Batman and working on the film, but the simple fact is that less than three weeks ago he was on Jimmy Kimmel Live! saying unequivocally that he would direct the film. By that time, I’d been hearing claims that he was going to give up the director’s chair for weeks, and clearly even if the final choice was made in the last several days, the possibility was well known by all principals at the time of his appearance on Kimmel’s show. It’s understandable that filmmakers and stars often cannot say what’s really going on, and are forced into uncomfortable positions where they either deny they’re involved in a project (“I’m not Aquaman” for example) or claim they’re doing something they probably know or suspect they won’t be doing after all. This is just part of the business these days, and we should all realize it by this point.

What this means, though, is Affleck’s statement saying, “Performing this role demands focus, passion and the very best performance I can give… I am still in this, and we are making it,” cannot be assumed to be the final word on the matter. I wish I could feel confident in taking it as gospel, but at this point I feel safer waiting until we see actual firm evidence, such as the start of physical training to prep for it. Hopefully it comes to pass, but now I’m much more inclined to take seriously Affleck’s remarks about not making the film if he’s unhappy with the script — and the script is part of the problem, remember.

If Affleck decides — or has already decided — that he’s less interested in continuing in the Batman role, then I wouldn’t be surprised if The Batman winds up rewritten. One option is to have Bruce Wayne pass the cowl to Dick Grayson or someone else, so another performer can continue in the role without trying to outright recast Affleck’s role. The benefits of this, from an objective standpoint, are that it allows a loose adaptation of something akin to Batman Beyond, which some fans and a few folks at Warner seem to support. That approach certainly offers something very different from any Batman we’ve seen before, although the counter-point would be that a regular Bruce Wayne version of Batman set in a larger DCU with other superheroes already offers a new approach we’ve yet to see on the big screen. Regardless, if Affleck is inclined to make The Batman his last picture in the DCU, I’d bet handing the cowl over to a new Batman is the most likely approach.

Source: Warner Bros.

If Affleck actually steps down from the lead role in The Batman altogether, then an alternative to a full recast could be rewriting the script as a “prequel” with a different actor playing Batman during an earlier point in his career. One huge benefit of this approach instead of the “passing the torch” option is instantly clear: these sorts of Batman movies can be produced entirely apart from the other DCU projects, since a bat-prequel series would predate the events of the DCU movies to date, inoculating Batman’s prequel-world against negative reactions to the rest of the DCU. It would reboot without having to overtly admit to being a reboot, and it wouldn’t upend the plans for the rest of the DCU films even while it hedges Warner’s bets in case those films don’t succeed.

A shared Gotham universe of characters tied to Batman has great shared-world potential while effectively cutting off the Batman series from the rest of the DCU, allowing it to continue no matter what happens to the other superhero franchises. On the other hand, this approach would presume a lot of negative things about the future of the other DCU projects, and seems likely to ensure Batman will wind up left out of the other superhero crossovers and team-ups, since it would be confusing to have him appearing in films set in the past while also appearing in other movies set during a different era.

I think a prequel approach is less likely since it limits the studio’s ability to use Batman in crossovers to boost other pictures. And really, a bat-centric shared world of films — including Batman movies, Suicide Squad and Gotham City Sirens pictures, Batgirl, Nightwing, Huntress, the Outsiders, and other concepts linked to Batman — is possible without setting it in the past. Such films can focus on their own bat-world and ignore the goings on of the other superhero projects, leaving Batman free to also drop by on other superheroes from time to time, and it all remains tied together as much or as little as Warner prefers.

Source: Warner Bros.

One minor point of speculation I want to mention — much has been made about Armie Hammer’s possible involvement in the DCU, with fans speculating he could portray Hal Jordan in Green Lantern Corps. That’s certainly possible, but I feel he might be more likely to show up in The Batman, and if so then it’s worth noting he could reasonably portray a younger version of Ben Affleck’s Batman, since he has the height and size potential to pull that off. Alternately, if The Batman winds up having Bruce pass the cowl to Dick Grayson, Hammer could also be a good choice for a Nightwing-turned-Batman potrayal. Fans surely remember Hammer was once cast as Batman, in George Miller’s original Justice League: Mortal project. It would be very interesting if Miller wound up directing The Batman and Hammer wound up wearing the cowl.

Batman is a cash cow, so he’s getting a movie regardless of who does or doesn’t participate in it. The project might have to substantially change, and its connection to the other DCU movies might evolve, but with $4.6 billion in box office for his theatrical appearances, Warner will find a way to get him back on the big screen. And if this year’s slate of DCU pictures are critical and box office failures, then I think it’s fair to expect the Batman franchise and related bat-centric projects to take over studio planning for a while (and you can be sure there’d be changes in leadership at Warner as well).

Source: Warner Bros.

But we can talk “what ifs” all day. What we know for sure is this: The Batman went from being a fast-tracked project by writer-director-star Ben Affleck, to being a project with script troubles and a writer-director-star exhausted and unhappy due to professional and personal matters necessitating a delay in production, and now comes word Affleck will hand over directing duties to someone else. Warner has worked hard to get the DCU back on track, to send positive vibes about the state of their superhero franchises, and to overcome lingering negative buzz and rumors about their upcoming projects. So while we can still remain hopeful about the project, news that The Batman won’t include the credit “directed by Ben Affleck” is a serious setback for those efforts and a disappointing turn of events.

Box office figures and tallies based on data via Box Office Mojo, Rentrak, and TheNumbers.

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