Director Kevin Smith is arguably the biggest Ben Affleck fan. Smith and Affleck have collaborated on countless movies together, and before Smith actually saw Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice , he was one of the few voices who publicly backed it from the very beginning.
Now, Smith has officially confirmed Ben Affleck is working on a solo Batman film. This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. The news that Affleck is set to co-write, direct, and star in a solo Batman film has been around for a year. The noise got louder that Affleck was going to conquer a solo Batman film, once reviews came out for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice .
While critics panned the film, and bashed it left and right, the reception for Affleck’s portrayal of Batman/Bruce Wayne was overwhelmingly positive. Most critics actually praised Affleck. Knowing the reception, and the fact that few question Affleck’s skill as a screenwriter and director these days, it would be a good move for Warner Bros. to fast track a solo Batman film while people are still interested in it.
Kevin Smith Says GEOFF JOHNS Confirmed Working On Batman Movie Script With Ben Affleck – https://t.co/kNQ6mvZw0G pic.twitter.com/YvAOsdvNRt
— Superhero Feed (@SuperheroFeed) April 7, 2016
On his recent podcast, Fat Man on Batman with Marc Bernadin, Newsarama reports Kevin Smith has reached out to DC’s Geoff Johns about the super secret project he’s co-writing with Ben Affleck.
During the podcast Smith spoke about the conversation he had with Johns, and confirmed the script they’re working on is indeed the first Batman film.
“[Ben Affleck has] been working on a solo script with Geoff Johns as well. Last conversation I had with Geoff Johns I was like are you working on it? and he said ‘Yeah.’”
Smith continued by explaining the details.
“I said, ‘What’s it like man, how do you co-write with someone?’ and he’s going ‘We just break it up, he takes halves and I take halves and then we write, and then we switch material, and then he goes over mine and I go over his.’ That sounds so f-ing fun, man.”
Ben Affleck has already written his own Batman movie https://t.co/DDGMNpSQzl pic.twitter.com/z03Y8BB0Yb
— The AV Club (@TheAVClub) March 30, 2016
Over time Affleck has remained coy about his involvement in the solo Batman film. When he first revealed he and Geoff were working on a project, he gave no hints that it would be a Batman film, even though there are rumors Affleck is finished with the script already.
“He and I are working together on something and I really am excited about it and I love him. He’s the best.”
Last fans heard Affleck talk about the Batman film, he said that he would like to have some time away from a Batman solo project so audiences could miss Batman, and wouldn’t have Christopher Nolan’s version in their mind. That said, it seems like fans and critics agree Affleck’s Batman is top notch.
Affleck then continued to describe what would make him say yes to enveloping himself completely into a Batman solo film :
“For me, as a director, it’s about the material and the characters, so if I found the right material, I would definitely throw my hat in the ring to direct something on this scale. I’m definitely bolder now, certainly having learned from and watched Zack and Chris put this movie together.”
As fans know, Warner Bros. has just announced that they have decided to shift their production schedule around to focus on more DC-related films. In addition to moving the Wonder Woman film up, Warner Bros. has added two additional DC films to their schedule. Many are assuming that it’s the Batman film. They’re releasing an untitled DC project on Oct. 5, 2018, and another on Nov. 1, 2019. Those are two Oscar-friendly release dates. And reportedly, they’re not going to be the typical, big budget summer releases that audiences are used to seeing for superhero films. Only time will tell how this universe unfolds.
[Photo by Warner Bros.]