Matt Reeves Let Me In

In the craziest case of “Will they or won’t they?” this year so far, there is a new development in the ongoing behind the scenes saga of ‘The Batman’. First, Ben Affleck was meant to star and direct the Caped Crusader’s next big screen solo adventure. Then, he dropped out of directing to focus on playing the iconic DC Comics superhero. ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ and ‘Cloverfield’ director Matt Reeves was revealed to be the frontrunner as Affleck’s replacement behind the camera, but talks eventually fell apart. Well, it looks like someone put them back together again because Warner Bros. has officially named the filmmaker that will helm the new Dark Knight film and it’s Matt freaking Reeves.

According to a press release on Business Wire, Reeves will follow the likes of Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher, and Christopher Nolan as he will be the next director to leave his mark on Batman’s cinematic history. Warner Bros. Pictures Group President and Chief Content Officer Toby Emmerich was delighted to share this announcement and had the following to say about the latest filmmaker to join the DC Cinematic Universe:

“We are thrilled to have Matt Reeves taking the helm of Batman, the crown jewel of our DC slate. Matt’s deep roots in genre films and his evolution into an emotional world-building director make him the perfect filmmaker to guide the Dark Knight through this next journey.”

Reeves himself weighed in by sharing his passion for the legendary vigilante and his excitement to step into yet another beloved franchise to do his thing:

“I have loved the Batman story since I was a child. He is such an iconic and compelling character, and one that resonates with me deeply. I am incredibly honored and excited to be working with Warner Bros. to bring an epic and emotional new take on the Caped Crusader to the big screen.”

And while it’s certainly exciting that Matt Reeves, there’s also another story hidden within this press release because you would think that the star of the movie would be mentioned somewhere in an official announcement regarding the staffing changes behind the scenes. However, that’s not the case here as Ben Affleck’s name is nowhere to be found. Could the rumors about the star wanting out of the DCCU completely be true? Will DC & WB be forced to find their third Batman (or fourth if you count Will Arnett’s LEGO version) in less than a decade?

We’ve been hearing reports of the DC movies falling apart in one way or another for a while now, but this would be a devastating blow for the company that’s trying so hard to compete with Marvel and every other major movie franchise out there. Surely we’ll hear more about this sooner rather than later, but until then, let us know what you think about Matt Reeves helming ‘The Batman’ in the comments below.

horizontal lineDespite 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