Ben Affleck was probably right to back out of directing his solo Batman film so he could focus on giving his most to the role. That the directorial duties have been handed over to Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves is pretty much the best thing we could have hoped for as a result. In recent interviews, Reeves described his Batman film as a Noir, detective story. It sounds like that isn’t the direction Affleck was heading though, because it now looks like his script has been dumped and a brand new one is being created.
If there’s one person who you have to feel bad for in this situation, it’s Joe Manganiello. Participating in a Super Hero film has been a dream of his for a long time. He was even up for the role of Superman before it went to Henry Cavill. In several interviews, Manganiello said that the loss of the role had left him severely depressed for several months afterward. Now, here he is again, so close to the role of a major DC villain that he’s even been filmed in full costume as Deathstroke in a video released by Ben Affleck several months ago. Chances are that we would have seen him with a cameo in Justice league, leading into his spot as the big bad in ‘The Batman.’ With a new script in the offing, there is a really solid chance that Deathstroke will not be the direction that Reeves chooses to go. Not only would that kill the role for Manganiello, but it also means that his JL cameo would probably end up on the cutting room floor. How many times is DC going to burn him before he goes over to Marvel?
The good news for fans is that there is no set release date. That at least means they can take their time and get it right.