Who Is In Control Of The Batman Movie?

Who is really calling the shots on the solo Batman movie?

Studio meddling seems to be the bane of the movie industry, especially the comic book movie industry. Every time a bad movie comes out, it is often laid at the feet of “studio meddling”. “Studio meddling” is why Fantastic Four barely feels like a movie, why Spider-Man 3 & Avengers: Age of Ultron feel bloated. It’s why Edgar Wright left Ant-Man (though I really liked Ant-Man, so I think that turned out ok). But on the flip side, letting writers and directors having free reign to see their vision through can be equally disastrous. I mean, Zack Snyder was rumored to have pretty much free reign on Batman v Superman, and even if you liked the film, it had some serious flaws that could’ve most likely been managed had somebody reigned him in. It has to be a balancing act, really.

Now that a Batman movie has been confirmed, and is being co-written by Geoff Johns and Ben Affleck, and also directed by Affleck, one wonders how “hands on” Warner Bros. will be with the film. According to Heroic Hollywood, the answer is not at all. The site is claiming that for the upcoming solo Batman film, Affleck and Johns have final say in everything.

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Granted, this sounds great. Geoff Johns is the creative head of DC. Ben Affleck has directed some of the best films of the last decade, so why should the studio get involved? Well, again, giving the creative types free reign like this can backfire. Ben Affleck almost quit Gone Girl over what kind of baseball cap his character wore. You really want that person having total creative control and final say? That being said I expect Johns and Affleck to deliver a spectacular Batman film, just don’t be surprised if there a couple weird creative decisions in there because no one told them no.