SnyderVerse sharks smell blood in the water after Ben Affleck gives James Gunn’s DCU a hard pass

Up until today, there was a growing belief that Ben Affleck was being lined up to direct The Brave and the Bold under the James Gunn and Peter Safran regime, which would have been a fitting way to bring his association with the DCU full circle.

After all, the Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker revealed that he was in talks with the two-time Academy Award winner about collaborating in the future, and as much as SnyderVerse supporters would have loved nothing more than to see Affleck headline his own standalone Batman blockbuster, having him helm another one would have been an acceptable substitute.

Of course, that theory has been shattered into a thousand tiny pieces after the actor made it perfectly clear in no uncertain terms that he won’t even entertain the notion of stepping behind the camera to direct one of Gunn’s DCU projects. That it came in the very same interview where he was full of praise for Zack Snyder and The Flash wasn’t lost on fans, either.

You can expect Gunn’s Twitter feed to be getting mercilessly trolled for the rest of the day after Affleck took a sledgehammer to the prospect of seeing him dive back into Bat-infested waters, especially when the new creative figurehead of the franchise went public with his intentions to welcome the SnyderVerse’s Dark Knight into the fold.

The Brave and the Bold no longer has a front-runner to direct, then, and it’s time for even the most ardent of campaigners to realize that once the credits begin rolling on The Flash, Batfleck is no more.