With comments leading up to Ben Affleck (‘Argo’,’The Town’) stepping out of the director’s chair for ‘The Batman,’ it wasn’t too surprising to Kevin Smith (‘Mall Rats’,’Chasing Amy’) who is weighing in on why he suspects this could have happened. Now, Kevin is quick to point out that he and Affleck haven’t hung out in awhile so this is just a theory but it is a pretty straight forward one that could make sense as we don’t know what really is going on behind the scenes.
For all we know, Affleck’s departure could have been anything from script delays to ‘Live by Night’ not performing well at the box office to disagreements with Warner Brothers on the direction and tone of the film to not being happy with what is happening with ‘Justice League’. However, on last week’s Fatman on Batman vlog, Smith has a pretty straight forward answer which would make perfect sense:
“Let’s talk about why? Why would this happen? I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him in years, but here’s my take on it. Here’s my hot take. What’s the upshot? Seriously. Everybody wants that to be the greatest Batman movie ever made, and you know, in many cases, maybe the greatest Batman movie ever made has been made, called The Dark Knight, it’s a pretty wonderful film. If that’s your bar for a Batman standalone, Chris Nolan couldn’t even measure up to himself with The Dark Knight Rises. I liked it but it wasn’t received nearly as well. Let’s be honest like that Joker portrayal is for the ages. F***** beyond brilliant and s***.”
“So, it’s a tall order man. So maybe he’s the kind of guy who’s just like why bother. Why am I going to step up to the plate, no matter what I do people are going to b****. If it ain’t f****** The Dark Knight, I’m f*****, but if I’m just acting in it, my name’s Paul and this is between ya’ll, I’m just the Bat, that’s it. The guy or girl tells me what to do and go and so you got a beef with the movie? Talk to these motherf******. That’s easier. That’s an easier life. You don’t have to sit there and take the slings and arrows.”
Honestly, that really does make sense. Nolan’s trilogy wasn’t just a box office success but is what everyone will be comparing his performance to as is. If people are going to hold being Batman against him on his acting, why have it happen on directing on top of it? Personally, I thought he was one of the few saving graces of ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ but we’ve all seen what DC has been doing with their films so it would make sense for anyone to be hesitant on whatever they have planned going forward.
Are you glad to hear that Affleck won’t be directing ‘The Batman’ or do you wish it would still end up happening? Do you think Kevin Smith’s theory is correct? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
