The Batman is one of the most anticipated upcoming superhero films. Academy Award winner Ben Affleck will not only star as the title role, but he'll be stepping behind the camera to direct the film. Fans have been wanting Affleck to make a Batman film since he was cast as The Dark Knight due to his ability to craft excellent films.
Throughout this year, we've gotten small little pieces of news about the plot, release date, and state of the script (some saying the film is a bit of a mess at the moment). Affleck has come forth to confirm and deny some of those rumors including when the film begins shooting.
“We’re on the right track with that and everything is coming together,” he said when promoting his new film, Live By Night. “We’re still finishing up a script. I’m very excited.”
He went on to acknowledge the big shoes he has to fill as he is the first director to take on a solo Batman film since Christopher Nolan. He recently said he isn't rushing the development of the film, most likely to respect the character and the cinematic history of Batman.
“I respect all of those [Batman] movies,” he said. “Christopher Nolan did an incredible job, Christian Bale did an incredible job, Tim Burton did an incredible job. At a certain point, you have to look forward and try to believe in your own vision for it and not be looking over your shoulder the whole time. I go into that movie with a tremendous amount of respect for the people who came before me.”
Batman isn't Affleck's first outing as a superhero, though. Let's rewind to the early 2000s when superhero films were less common than they are now. Marvel had a few movies out in the wild, Spider-Man, X-Men, and Daredevil starring none other than Batman himself. The film was heavily criticized for a number of reasons and made a mockery of Affleck. Affleck went on to talk about how redeeming it was for him to get the chance to play another superhero and how it shaped his character.
"That’s the movie I want to do. I want to be a part of that. Part of it was I wanted for once to get one of these movies and do it right – to do a good version. I hate Daredevil so much."
"It frustrated me. The Netflix show does really cool stuff. I feel like that was there for us to do with that character, and we never kind of got it right. I wanted to do one of those movies and sort of get it right."
He revealed he had some hesitation about taking on the iconic role (probably after what happened with Daredevil), but his son helped get over his concerns.
"I was like, “I don’t know if I want to be Batman”, and he was like, “Dad, you have to be Batman.” He’s right. If you can be Batman, you have to be Batman. He still thinks I really am Batman. He thinks I’m in my Batcave right now. Eventually, he will understand, and it will be a steep therapist’s bill, but I’ll take it."
The Batman is rumored to release sometime in 2018.
[Variety and HeroicHollywood]
