Ben Affleck No Longer Directing Batman, Script Being Rewritten by Chris Terrio, Everythin Awful

Sad Affleck is sad

This week in the DC Extended Universe being a hot mess, Variety is reporting that Ben Affleck will no longer direct the upcoming solo Batman film. The announcement comes after a series of soundbites from Affleck where he appeared uncertain that the project would come together. The latest development came earlier this week, with Warner Bros announcing that Affleck would step aside and focus on starring in the lead role, while an as-yet-undecided replacement takes over directing duties. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves is allegedly at the top of that list. Deadline has also reported that Batman v Superman scribe Chris Terrio has already turned in a rewrite of the script Affleck and DCEU Creative Director Geoff Johns had originally written. It’s no secret that I am often left scratching my head when it comes to DC movies and how they are being made, but this one has actually caused me to throw up my hands. Fans and critics have been split on the look and tone of these films, but nobody but nobody has had anything nice to say about the story in any of them. As I watched Batman and Superman growl and grimace their way through Dawn of Justice’s two and a half-hour runtime, I had little to no idea why they were doing so. Suicide Squad subjected audiences to around 20 minutes of character introductions before convincing them to care about maybe the most fleshed out of the two. So when I first heard the Batman solo film was having troubles getting started, I suspected narrative issues were to blame. In an interview with the Guardian, which I quoted a few weeks ago, Affleck said verbatim “...there’s no script. If it doesn’t come together in a way I think is really great I’m not going to do it,” all but confirming my suspicions. And now this week, lo and behold, he’s not doing it. This is not to say Chris Terrio is a bad writer; I don’t think you can win an Oscar for anything, especially writing Argo, and be considered bad at that thing. But I don’t think it’s a stretch to say he’s good at writing a particular genre of film; his track record with superhero films is short and spotty. I’d trust Quentin Tarantino to write a hyperviolent crime drama, but I’m not going to have him write a children’s book (although that would be interesting). I could be wrong. The film has yet to even receive a title, let alone a release date. But given the brief, turbulent history of this cinematic universe, I’m not filled with an abundance of hope. Is Wonder Woman here yet?

The Flash Movie Picks Up Third (!) Writer

Eza Miller thinking this may not have been such a good idea.

Warner Bros has just hired a third writer to work on its upcoming solo movie for The Flash. As I have previously reported, the studio has had some trouble finding a creative direction for DC’s fastest hero. Originally, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies scribe Seth Grahame-Smith was attached to write and direct, but he left citing that old classic “creative differences.” His replacement, Dope director Rick Famuyiwa, would also depart after his rewrite didn’t land with executives. Now, for the third and hopefully last time, a writer, one Joby Harold, has been tapped to do a page one rewrite of the film. Harold’s star appears to be on the rise recently. Another one of his scripts has been adapted Guy Ritchie’s action-packed retelling of King Arthur, due out later this year, and he also served as executive producer on the criminally underrated 2014 sci-fi thriller Edge of Tomorrow. I want to be hopeful that this will turn out well, but the DC Extended Universe hasn’t endowed me with an abundance of confidence to date. Let’s just hope they give Harold more than six weeks to write this one. In the meantime Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman and Zack Snyder’s Justice League are both due out later this year.