DC fans are still reeling from the recent revelation that Ben Affleck has decided to step down from the director's chair of the solo Batman movie. The decision has left the project aimless and in search of a director -- with no concrete solution in sight. In this time of uncertainty, we're left to wonder why Ben Affleck made this decision, and Kevin Smith seems to think that it has something to do with avoiding the pressure and potential fan backlash of a bad movie. Smith explained:
Maybe he's the kind of guy who's just like why bother. Why am I going to step up to the plate, no matter what I do people are going to bitch. If it ain't fucking The Dark Knight, I'm fucked. But if I'm just acting in it, my name's Paul and this is between ya'll, I'm just the Bat, that's it. The guy or girl tells me what to do and go. And so you got a beef with the movie? Talk to these motherfuckers. That's easier. That's an easier life. You don't have to sit there and take the slings and arrows.
Kevin Smith's comments on an episode of Fatman on Batman arguably seem like the most logical and reasonable reason for why Ben Affleck decided to take a step back from the director's chair on the upcoming Batman solo movie. There's a ton of pressure associated with simply playing the role of Batman, and the movie is already at a disadvantage when we consider the fact that it will always be held up and compared to Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. Affleck probably wants to hand over the stress and responsibility of handling the overall movie to someone else. That way he doesn't have to shoulder the responsibility if the film isn't good. It's a pretty blunt rationale, but it also makes plenty of sense.
All you need to do is look at the recent treatment of guys like Zack Snyder and David Ayer to see why Ben Affleck probably wants nothing to do with a Batman film in terms of directing. Angry DC fans (ourselves admittedly included at times) completely threw those two filmmakers under the bus for their work on films like Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad. Affleck already suffered from plenty of unwarranted backlash simply from the decision to cast him as Batman. If he took the reigns on a Batman movie from a creative standpoint, and if that Batman movie subsequently turned out poorly, then DC fans would never let him live it down.
We will bring you more information regarding Ben Affleck's involvement in the DCEU as new details are made available to us. His version of Bruce Wayne is slated to make his next appearance in the silver screen DC world when Zack Snyder's Justice League debuts later this year on November 17, 2017.
Check out the San Diego Comic-Con trailer for Justice League on the next page!
