Batman

Over the weekend, USA Today dropped their 2017 movie preview featuring new photos of some of the year’s most anticipated movies. One of those was, of course, DC’s Justice League. We’ve seen some behind-the-scenes footage and some new looks at Wonder Woman, Batman, and The Flash, but now the whole gang has arrived.

Rough year for Ben Affleck, noted Jennifer Garner spouse and one-time star of Gigli. His big starring vehicle Batman v Superman made a whole lot of money but was critically reviled almost across the board, his latest directorial effort Live by Night got a quiet and unceremonious limited release that was buried in the holiday craziness, he was spotted sadly vaping in a car, and now a pall of uncertainty has been cast over his future. He’s confirmed for Zack Snyder’s upcoming Justice League crossover, but Affleck’s relationship with the Dark Knight’s cowl and cape may be getting a bit strained. In a new interview, Affleck indicated that what was once presumed to be set in stone is, in fact, still up for debate.

Not long ago, we published a list of suggestions for how Warner Bros. could fix some of the issues with the DC Extended Universe. To date, the studio has delivered three superhero blockbusters — all of which were massively budgeted and hugely successful at the box office, sure, but they could have performed even better had they been genuinely good films. Although recent comments from WB execs and Ben Affleck imply that the studio has learned a few lessons from its mistakes, new comments from a top DC movies producer prove otherwise.

From the new heavy metal logo to set photos of Aquaman rocking a guitar and Ben Affleck’s Batman showing off his midlife crisis sunglasses, I’ve been pretty certain that Justice League is actually the story of how a Cool Dad puts together a hard rock cover band of superheroes. Thanks to an interview accompanying a new still from Zack Snyder’s film, my beliefs are, once again, validated.

There seems to be a bit of conflicting information regarding Ben Affleck’s standalone Batman movie: Last week, Zack Snyder set his next directing project as WB pushed back the release of Justice League 2, reportedly to make room for the Batman movie. Earlier this week, Affleck said he’s taking his time with the project and making sure the script, which he’s co-writing with Geoff Johns, is right before heading into production. But now, Affleck has confirmed that his Batman film will shoot next spring, while WB president Greg Silverman says it’s on track for a 2018 release.

One of the biggest problems (and one that we’ve covered quite a bit) with Warner Bros’ DCEU is the way the studio is reverse-engineering its Justice League franchise. Instead of establishing their characters in individual films and slowly building toward a big crossover, they’ve done the reverse. And by building their productions around meeting a release date deadline, they wind up with films that are kind of a mess. If Ben Affleck’s approach to his Batman standalone film (and the recent decision to delay Justice League 2) is any indication, then maybe — just maybe — WB is learning from their mistakes.

Earlier this week, Bret Easton Ellis made headlines when he claimed that the script for The Batman was terrible and that Warner Bros. didn’t really care. In an interview with The Ringer (via io9), Ellis mentioned having dinner with a few studio executives who had heard through the rumor mill that several people involved in Ben Affleck’s movie had approached Warner Bros. with a list of changes needed to iron out the script. According to Ellis’ sources, the executives were told that the studio just didn’t care.

The future of the DC Cinematic Universe is filled with lots of mystery. We don’t know what that second Justice League film we be called, nor do we have many details on Aquaman and Shazam. But we might finally have an idea as to when Ben Affleck’s solo Batman movie will hit theaters.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was a tale of two heroes and a tale of two outcomes. The film made $873 million worldwide. But it was also a deeply polarizing film, satisfying many hardcore DC fans but putting off others with its dark tone and heroes that I would characterize as, how should I put this, kinda dumb. It will lead directly into the Wonder Woman and Justice League movies, along with an entire DC Extended Universe, but the film was so dark and dour, that it made a lot of viewers less excited than nervous about all the stuff to come.

We finally know what Ben Affleck‘s solo Batman movie will be called, and thank the superhero gods, it won’t have a colon or a subtitle.

One of the hot rumors surrounding Ben Affleck’s standalone Batman movie was that it would serve as a kind of loose adaptation of Grant Morrison’s Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, a haunting graphic novel that features Batman breaking up a riot at Gotham’s notorious insane asylum. Morrison’s comic is a darkly beautiful addition to the Batman mythology and seems to be perfectly in line with the kind of superhero stories Warner Bros. is looking for: for mature audiences and crammed to the gills with as many recognizable faces as possible.

Warner Bros. has made plenty of decisions with its DC Cinematic Universe that don’t sit quite right with fans, but credit where credit is due, the casting of J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon is not one of them. Simmons  —  now available in a bulked up version 2.0  —  is one of our generation’s great character actors, the rare talent who can switch from utterly terrifying to kindly paternal in the blink of an eye. Since Batman looks to Gordon as both a hard-boiled police officer and a surrogate father figure, Simmons is the perfect addition to both the standalone Batman movie and the Justice League film.