Meet The Directors Who Probably Aren’t Directing THE BATMAN

Last night, word broke that Ben Affleck had opted out of directing WB's The Batman, a development which followed weeks of "Will he/Won't he?" speculation. Almost immediately, this not-so-unexpected bit of news gave rise to the most dreaded and pointless of online conversations: comic book fans pitching visionary directors for gigs they'd almost certainly have no interest in. 

We went through this just a few months ago, back when director Tim Miller dropped out of Deadpool 2. In the days that followed, misguided fans started an online petition aimed at getting Fox to hire Quentin Tarantino to replace him. The belief that Tarantino would even want such a gig was naive; the suggestion that an online petition might be able to will the thing into existence was straight-up laughable. 

And now it's happening again with The Batman. Within minutes of the Affleck news breaking, fans were tossing around names that ... I mean, good lord, folks. 

David Fincher is almost certainly not going to direct The Batman.

If you've been paying attention, you know that Fincher's career got off to a rocky start thanks to the director's deeply painful experience helming Alien 3. So traumatic was that production that Fincher almost swore off filmmaking forever, and in the years since he has never returned to franchise filmmaking (the closest he came was an attempted launch of an English-language Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series, but even then that franchise was intended to be entirely his own).

David Fincher is a meticulous perfectionist who demands almost total control over each new movie he makes. Stop and ask yourself whether or not he'd have any interest in telling a story that would, at least in part, be dictated by every DCU film that's come before (and the ones planned for the future). Of all the names floated for the Batman gig, this one strikes us as the least likely.

Denis Villeneuve is almost certainly not going to direct The Batman. 

With a number of impressive genre efforts under his belt (Enemy, Sicario, Prisoners, the Oscar-nominated Arrival) and another major one on the horizon (Blade Runner 2049), Villeneuve is one of fanboy nation's current favorites. And y'know what? I don't blame 'em. I've loved each and every movie Denis Villeneuve has made, and look forward to watching his filmography expand in the years to come. He's a goddamn rock star.

He's also heavily booked: as soon as production wraps on Blade Runner 2049, Villeneuve's got months worth of promotion (interviews, junkets, what have you) to look forward to, and then - at last we heard - he was circling Dune, a property he's reportedly always loved, for Legendary Pictures. Now, admittedly, there's been no official confirmation of Villeneuve signing on for that gig. But if it pans out as expected, it's very likely that Dune would keep him busy well past the point that Warner Bros. would be willing to wait for The Batman.

George Miller is ... well, it's very unlikely George Miller would direct The Batman, but it's not entirely outside the realm of possibility.

On the one hand, Miller has an established relationship with Warner Bros., has more than proven himself capable of delivering an all-timer action movie (with Mad Max: Fury Road, he even racked up some Oscar nominations in the process), and famously once came very close to directing a Justice League movie for the studio.

But George Miller has also gone on record as saying that he wants to direct something smaller and more intimate before wading back into another big-budget action spectacle, and it seems far likelier that - when he does - Miller would prefer a return to the Mad Max universe (a world he has complete creative control over, versus one where he'd be painted into a creative corner by the goings-on in the rest of the DCU) rather than a Batman movie. Again, possible - and, admittedly, if he signed on, it'd be pretty damn exciting - but it feels very unlikely.

The truth is, we have no idea where Warner Bros.' head is at regarding the director of The Batman. Maybe they go with a for-hire guy, someone who can be easily managed and deliver the exact movie they want. Maybe they'll bring in an up-and-comer who's displayed some genuine vision (last night, I saw people suggesting Green Room's Jeremy Saulnier, but come on: if Saulnier's going to direct a comic book movie, it's almost definitely gonna be The Punisher). Maybe they really will reach for the stars, and try to bring on a big, prestige name to make this thing happen. We'll have to wait and see. All we know for the time being: it's probably not gonna be one of these three guys.

Please engage in the ritual wailing and gnashing of teeth in the comments below.