Last week, Ben Affleck announced that he would no longer be directing ‘The Batman’ due to the demands required of him to also star as the iconic superhero. While he vowed to assist Warner Bros. in finding a suitable replacement to collaborate with to do the Dark Knight justice in his first solo film as part of the new DC Cinematic Universe, it would seem that the current frontrunner for the position is ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ director Matt Reeves. But everybody continues to weigh in with their picks. Although, you probably shouldn’t count on Kevin Smith landing the gig.
In his typical self-deprecating manner, Smith took to Twitter to respond to fan suggestions that he direct ‘The Batman’ with a list of the reasons why he wouldn’t be considered. Though many are quick to cite that the ‘Clerks’ filmmaker is friends with Affleck, the New Jersey native points out that he and the Academy Award winner have been out of touch for some time. He also takes a quick jab at himself for his last two films, ‘Tusk’ and ‘Yoga Hosers’. You can check out all the reason in the tweet below:
I’m flattered. But 3 things make me directing Batman impossible: 1) Haven’t spoken to Ben in years. 2) I made @YogaHosers, 3) Common sense. https://t.co/oTIhA3FtjO
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) January 31, 2017
Of course, Smith is selling himself a bit short because he has to be one of the most knowledgeable people working today when it comes to Batman. Not only has he been an uber fan since his youth, his experience with his podcast ‘Fatman on Batman’ has given him a unique understanding of the character over the years. Plus, he’s even handled the Caped Crusader in the pages of DC Comics in the past.
But more importantly, he has dazzled fans and showrunners alike with his work in The CW’s corner of the DC Universe on ‘The Flash’ and ‘Supergirl’ recently (and he hopes to continue doing so in the future). With the reverence that he’s shown to the character and his craftsmanship in helming these episodes, this more than anything should prove to WB that he can handle a superhero movie of his own. Hopefully, the studio sees this potential and chooses to utilize it one day. Until then, let’s just hope that DC and WB can do better than their previous DCCU outings (hopefully by keeping Zack Snyder away from ‘The Batman’ for starters).
Who would you want to direct ‘The Batman’? Do you think that Kevin Smith would do a good job despite what he might say about himself? Let us know in the comments.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
