With Disney set to unleash Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers 2 between now and 2015 (during which we’ll also see the arrival of Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Fox’s The Wolverine and X-Men Days of Future Past), there appears to be a real risk that Marvel could come to dominate the superhero genre over the next few years. So far, the only confirmed project on Warner Bros.’ upcoming DC Comics superhero slate is next year’s Superman reboot Man of Steel, but if there’s one DC property that could put a halt to a Marvel monopoly, then it’s surely the Justice League.
Well, following on from yesterday’s news that Joss Whedon has signed a deal with Disney and Marvel Studios to write and direct The Avengers 2, now comes word that Warner Bros. are looking to kick-start their own star-studded team-up by securing a director to oversee the long-rumoured Justice League movie. And with Christopher Nolan officially putting himself out of contention following the release of The Dark Knight Rises last month, it’s been reported that Warner Bros. has identified Ben Affleck (The Town, Argo) as the man they want to bring Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and The Flash together on the big screen. According to Variety, Affleck is the only director to have been sent a copy of Will Beall’s (Gangster Squad) screenplay, and he will be holding talks about Justice League in the coming days.
Affleck is becoming something of a favourite at Warner Bros., having directed both The Town and the upcoming Argo for the studio. He’s also said to be interested in another of Warner’s projects, the feature adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand, as well as considering an offer to star in the sci-fi drama Replay. Although his involvement with Justice League is far from certain at this point, should he decide to take on the project, Variety also claim he’s “made it clear that going forward, he’s only interested in directing films in which he also stars… so its likely that if this pairing ever came to fruition, he would likely don a suit of his own.”
Affleck as Batman? Say it ain’t so…
Update: Similar to the report earlier this week that Marvel were set to offer Fox an extension to Daredevil earlier this week, Deadline has now called “bullshit” on Variety’s story, claiming that Affleck’s reps have already denied that he’ll accept the directing gig on Justice League.
Originally published August 8, 2012. Updated December 6, 2019.
