Hotly anticipated superhero mashup Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice isn't even nearly in cinemas yet, and already we've had a whole host of tie-ins and spin-offs announced - a veritable Justice League of DC superhero goodness, from Aquaman to Wonder Woman all the way through to Shazam (!) and Green Lantern (again). One of the more obvious candidates for his own series is the DC Universe's new linchpin Batman (sorry Supes), as portrayed by Ben Affleck. We all expected that Affleck's Batman would eventually get his own solo outing, and surprising precisely no-one that's been shaping up to be the case. Affleck is reportedly in talks to write and direct his very own Batman trilogy, which would see the actor under the cowl for at least another ten years. Obviously this all depends on the performance of Dawn Of Justice but a new Bat-trilogy seems like a fairly certain bet at this point (let's be honest - it'll be enormous). With that in mind, let's outline some of the possible outcomes of a new Batman series, taking in conjecture, a few crossed fingers and - in the spirit of Batman himself - more than a little detective work. Holy possibilities, Batman!
10. Ben Affleck: Writer, Director, Batman
Ah go on then. Having more than made up for disgracing himself with Daredevil, Ben Affleck has gone on to direct a series of critically acclaimed movies - the not inconsiderable Gone Baby Gone, The Town and Argo. With the hotly tipped Live By Night also on his plate, Warner Bros. could do far worse than snap up their Batman for writing and directorial duties. Especially since he proved he can now act, too (see Gone Girl). An Affleck with a vested interest would make a great writer and director for the trilogy, having already proved his comic book chops with his Kevin Smith heritage and early fanboy image. Keep Silent Bob away from the scripts, though. We've all read The Widening Gyre. What, you've not read The Widening Gyre? Don't read the Widening Gyre. Few things are set in stone, but as WB and DC already have their critical darling wrapped up in the cape and cowl, they'd be fools not to monopolise on that by getting him to write and direct too...
A film critic and professional writer of over ten years, Joel Harley has a deep and abiding love of all things horror, Batman and Nicolas Cage. He can be found writing online and in print, all over the Internet and in especially good bookstores.
