Batman news: Director confirmed, NO mention of you know who AND Superman dissed?

The ongoing saga of the grumpy Gotham superhero’s standalone film is becoming darker and more confusing than the films themselves.

After Ben Affleck excused himself from directing duties, the whole project has seemed to be up in the air without a cape.

Various false starts and feverish rumours later and Warner Bros has finally issued an official statement.

Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Content Officer, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, confirmed the appointment of a new director, negelcted to mention the main star and seemed to insult Superman in one brief comment.

Emmerich said: “We are thrilled to have Matt Reeves taking the helm of Batman, the crown jewel of our DC slate. Matt’s deep roots in genre films and his evolution into an emotional world-building director make him the perfect filmmaker to guide the Dark Knight through this next journey.”

Fans should be reassured that Reeves is a safe pair of hands after his work on the Planet of the Apes franchise. He will be a producer on the project.

Fans will probably be less thrilled with the “crown jewel” comment, which seems to relegate Superman to an afterthought.

Considering the intense debates and rivalries between the dedicated fans of the two superheroes, the comments seem a tad unwise. Batman has certainly been the bigger hitter in recent big screen releases but Superman is still widely regarded as the original and greatest comic book character of all time.

Even more worrying is the absense of any mention of Affleck, which is repeated in Reeves’ own statement.

He said: “I have loved the Batman story since I was a child. He is such an iconic and compelling character, and one that resonates with me deeply.

“I am incredibly honored and excited to be working with Warner Bros. to bring an epic and emotional new take on the Caped Crusader to the big screen.”

Considering Affleck is teh existing incarnation of Batman and currently believed to be responsible for the script for the upcoming film, the total omission of his name in reference to the film is startling.

Neither man made any reference to a potential release date or a projected start of production. This isn’t entirely unexpecetd, since the project has been in flux for the past few months.

Fans will be eagerly waiting for confirmation that the movie is still going ahead, although the Warner Bros slate of upcoming DC adaptations is a marked mix of confirmed releases like Wonder Woman, Aquaman and The Justice League plus ongoing projects like the Black Adam, Cyborg and Bataman stanfdalone features.

All eyes will be on the sky waiting for the next Bat-signal.