Ben Affleck Drops Out of Directing Duties on The Batman

In a move that I'm sure has absolutely nothing to do with his expensive period piece Live By Night bombing at the box office, Ben Affleck has announced that he will not be directing the new solo Batman movie, currently titled The Batman.  This news brings fresh meaning to the amazing sad Ben Affleck meme that circulated during Batman V Superman's marketing push last year, and I'll take any chance I can get to repost this hilarious video.

On a more serious note, despite the critical and commercial drubbing Affleck took for Live By Night, this is nothing but a loss for WB and Batman fans.  Affleck is a smart director, and I remain convinced that he would've turned in a really special take on a stand-alone non-origin-story Batman film.  It's unclear whether this was his choice or the studios, but I think it really may have been a combination of the two.  After his disappointing gangster flick, the studio probably wasn't willing to give Affleck the creative freedom he wanted as director, especially within the high-pressure time-limit driven world of blockbuster comic book movies, so he stepped down.  Interestingly, he will stay on as producer and star for whomever will take over next (awkward).  For now, this will remain one of the more interesting what-if scenarios in recent memory, especially if the film ends up being terrible.