10 Directors Who Should Helm The Batman (If Affleck Quits)
3. Darren Aronofsky
Known For: Black Swan, The Wrestler, Noah.
Over the course of 2016, various reports emerged regarding the way Warner Bros. has been treating the directors of its DCEU movies.
The studio supposedly went behind David Ayer's back and edited their own cut of Suicide Squad, and forced Zack Snyder to cut down BvS to two-and-a-half-hours, even though a longer cut was the vision he had intended from the start.
The problem is that both directors haven't earned the right to have any leverage over the studio - they can't say "no, we're doing it this way", like a Spielberg or Cameron could. The DCEU desperately needs a talented filmmaker who'd be able to apply themselves wholly to a project and shake off any studio interference, something that rarely results in a great product - and Darren Aronofsky is very much that person.
His talent is indisputable, with an Oscar nomination under his belt and near-universal acclaim for every movie he releases, and his ability to delve into adult, mature themes - the sanity of Nina in Black Swan, for example - would make for a compelling character study of The Dark Knight, a hero that's layered with troubles that're ripe for exploration.
Aronofsky's been linked to Batman and Wolverine movies in the past too, so he's clearly open to the possibility of helming a superhero project someday.