While there was always the possibility that it would happen, the news that Ben Affleck has decided to step down as the director of The Batman still came as a shock last week. Though he remains committed to the movie as its lead star and an executive producer, the future of this new franchise is now unclear, despite a list of potential replacements surfacing recently.
While he’s not on the shortlist – unfortunately – one name which has been doing the rounds among fans is Kevin Smith. He’s worked on some of the best episodes of Supergirl and The Flash over the past year or so, but in a recent podcast appearance, the filmmaker didn’t put himself forward for the job; instead, he listed some other very interesting potential replacements for Affleck.
“Who would I put forward? Look, you’re going to hear this from me from now until the end of time. Tim Miller. Give him everything, he did f****** Deadpool, and now he’s not doing Deadpool now. You really f****** want to send a f****** message to the X-people he used to work with, f****** Batman. That’s the only step up from Deadpool is f****** Batman, right? Give it to Tim Miller. He can do anything.”
Miller would be a fantastic choice, to be sure, though chances are he’s going to be far too busy with the Terminator franchise now that he’s no longer attached to the Deadpool sequel. After acknowledging that the director might not be able to step in due to that commitment, Smith also suggested that Mad Max: Fury Road‘s George Miller take over, someone we know is already being eyed by Warner Bros.
Now that The Batman no longer has a director, meeting the rumoured 2018 release date seems highly unlikely. The same goes for The Flash, as it undergoes yet another rewrite, and that obviously means Aquaman could be the only DC Comics movie released next year. That certainly doesn’t bode well for fans, but let’s hope that Warner Bros. can clean up this little mess and get things back on track in a timely manner.
