Why I'm not worried about Ben Affleck leaving directing duties for The Batman
For a moment, I'd like you to put yourself in Ben Affleck's shoes.
Imagine that after years of everyone saying you're going to be the worst thing that's happened to The Caped Crusader since the ice puns and rubber nipples, now everyone can't stop talking about how much they love your portrayal of Batman.
At the same time, your last film, Live By Night, receives bad reviews across the board.
You've also spent the better part of the last 18 months playing Batman three times in three different movies (possibly four, if my theory of Bruce Wayne making a cameo in Wonder Woman pans out) with varying levels of commitment.
With The Batman, which is now the only thing people want to ask you about, you're not only taking on the immense responsibility of writing, directing, executive-producing, and starring in a film that is sure to be very action-heavy (i.e. much more physically demanding than the normal director-star combo), you're also doing this with a freakin' Batman movie!
Taking together the negative reception to his last directorial effort, the positive reception of his portrayal of Batman (which is a complete 180 from the reaction to the news that he would be Batman), and his determination to make The Batman nothing less than fantastic, is it really unreasonable for Affleck to have to come to the conclusion of "As much as I want to direct The Batman, doing that on top of writing, executive producing, and starring it in is just spreading myself too thin and the film will ultimately suffer for it"?
If Ben Affleck feels that he's taking on too much responsibility with The Batman by directing it in addition to his other duties (and that's exactly what his statement on the matter would indicate), his decision to step down from the director's chair is a wise move, as far as I'm concerned.
To my fellow DC fans - relax and take a breath. Let Affleck, Zack Snyder, James Wan, Patty Jenkins, David Ayer, Geoff Johns, and WB focus on making these movies as good as they can be, and stop constantly badgering them and screaming "The sky is falling" every fifteen minutes. Right now, let's just keep our sights on Wonder Woman and Justice League - you know, the DC Films we'll actually be seeing in 2017 - and everything will be fine!
For a moment, I'd like you to put yourself in Ben Affleck's shoes.
Imagine that after years of everyone saying you're going to be the worst thing that's happened to The Caped Crusader since the ice puns and rubber nipples, now everyone can't stop talking about how much they love your portrayal of Batman.
At the same time, your last film, Live By Night, receives bad reviews across the board.
You've also spent the better part of the last 18 months playing Batman three times in three different movies (possibly four, if my theory of Bruce Wayne making a cameo in Wonder Woman pans out) with varying levels of commitment.
With The Batman, which is now the only thing people want to ask you about, you're not only taking on the immense responsibility of writing, directing, executive-producing, and starring in a film that is sure to be very action-heavy (i.e. much more physically demanding than the normal director-star combo), you're also doing this with a freakin' Batman movie!
Taking together the negative reception to his last directorial effort, the positive reception of his portrayal of Batman (which is a complete 180 from the reaction to the news that he would be Batman), and his determination to make The Batman nothing less than fantastic, is it really unreasonable for Affleck to have to come to the conclusion of "As much as I want to direct The Batman, doing that on top of writing, executive producing, and starring it in is just spreading myself too thin and the film will ultimately suffer for it"?
If Ben Affleck feels that he's taking on too much responsibility with The Batman by directing it in addition to his other duties (and that's exactly what his statement on the matter would indicate), his decision to step down from the director's chair is a wise move, as far as I'm concerned.
To my fellow DC fans - relax and take a breath. Let Affleck, Zack Snyder, James Wan, Patty Jenkins, David Ayer, Geoff Johns, and WB focus on making these movies as good as they can be, and stop constantly badgering them and screaming "The sky is falling" every fifteen minutes. Right now, let's just keep our sights on Wonder Woman and Justice League - you know, the DC Films we'll actually be seeing in 2017 - and everything will be fine!