The Batman continues to struggle to find footing, having removed Affleck as director, and a script and release date still in flux.
Warner Brothers’ struggle with the DC Extended Universe is a well documented thing. After missing the boat to the 21st century model of “universe franchises” in 2012, and left holding the remnants of last century’s stand alone trilogies as Marvel’s The Avengers took off, this is a franchise who have always looked like they were functioning in the reactive, desperately playing catch up, rather than forging their own path.
It does not help that their entire universe was built as a top down model upon the shoulders of a single movie, and one, it has been well argued, that completely misunderstands the main protagonist of Superman. In the rush to beat Marvel’s Sherman like march to the Sea (or money) to the punch, Warner Brothers announced an entire slate of DCEU films, with promises it has so far badly under delivered on. Batman v Superman was a critical disaster (which we should remember was only their second movie in the universe, whereas The Avengers didn’t come until six movies in), and drove them to retool their third entry Suicide Squad into an editing disaster. (This was their Guardian of the Galaxy equivalent, a movie which was Marvel’s 10th go round, just to keep the comparisons aligned).
This year is a bit of a make or break moment for the franchise universe, with two installments arriving within six months of each other: Justice League and Wonder Woman, the latter of which comes first and has not only the weight of the entire universe franchise, but the added desperate expectations of every female fan who wants to see a superhero movie headlined by a woman already.
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
And yet, that’s not what people are talking about at all. Justice League releases photo after photo of heroes posed standing around looking justice-y, and people take little notice. Wonder Women only seems to make headlines over how white it is, or the rumors that it will be yet another complete inert disaster when it arrives. Instead, it’s all about the standalone Bat-fleck movie and the continuing production woes it is currently undergoing.
The new round started when it was announced that Ben Affleck, the star of the upcoming movie, will step down as director, only weeks after insisting he was “good to go” on the project. Now it’s reported that the script is being tossed.
"…the project will undergo substantial changes and possible/probably another full rewrite. Warner Bros. is already speaking to several filmmakers about taking over in the director’s chair — including one of my personal longtime favorites to direct a Batman movie, Matt Reeves, who seems to be the frontrunner — and word is the project will essentially get a fresh start once a new creative team has been put together."
The article questions if Affleck will stick around to even make it to starring in the standalone, which would be an unmitigated disaster for the DCEU. The entire point of these movies is that the same actors carry through, helping the continuity of the universe along, even as different hands step up to take the directing wheel. It does not help that Warner Brothers also doesn’t have a firm date for The batman’s release–though currently they’re saying 2019, the truth is, this is an attempt to fast forward adding Batman into the DCEU world, after insisting they would not go back to the Batman well so soon, even as the memories of Christian Bale faded quickly. (It’s also a way to cover for the standalone of The Flash, which was originally supposed to come out next year, and is now on it’s nth rewrite and third director.)
Next: 5 Major Moments from the Second Wonder Woman Trailer
Can Warner Brothers finally get it together and pull the DCEU up to stand beside the Marvel franchise, as these iconic superheroes deserve? Perhaps if Wonder Woman comes in and saves the day, the heads at Warner Brothers will calm down and stop driving directors and writers away from their projects. Once again, a woman expected to be doing all the work, and probably for not nearly enough credit if she does save their butts.