While we may never know the exact reasons why Ben Affleck left the director role in the solo Batman movie, Kevin Smith may have some ideas.
Speaking on his podcast Fatman on Batman, he made an educated guess on what was going through Affleck’s mind when leaving the position.
“Here’s my hot take. What’s the upshot? Seriously, everybody wants that to be the greatest Batman movie ever made, and you know, in many cases, maybe the greatest Batman movie ever made has been made, called The Dark Knight, it’s a pretty wonderful film. If that’s your bar for a Batman standalone, Chris Nolan couldn’t even measure up to himself with The Dark Knight Rises. I liked it, but it wasn’t received nearly as well and s—. Let’s be honest, that Joker portrayal is for the ages — f— beyond brilliant and s—. So, it’s a tall order, man. Maybe he’s the kind of guy who’s like, ‘Why bother? Like, why am I going to step up to the plate? No matter what I do, people are gonna b—. If it ain’t f— The Dark Knight,’ I’m f—. But if I’m just acting in it, my name’s Paul, and this is between y’all. I’m just the Bat, that’s it.’”
Smith noted that while he has worked with Affleck in the past, he has not talked to him recently about being on the Batman solo movie. However, Smith is right about how the expectations of the next best Batman movie weighs heavily on any director-no matter how talented they are. The Dark Knight was amazing and despite it being almost ten years old, it is still fresh in peoples’ minds. It is still the standard of what makes a good Batman flick.
Whether Affleck was overwhelmed with the pressure of directing the next solo Batman film after Christopher Nolan’s seminal Dark Knight Trilogy is remained to be seen. In the meantime, Affleck and Warner Bros. are still searching for his directorial replacement. To watch all of Smith’s thoughts on the matter and more, check out his video below.