Ben Affleck is waiting for the 'right story' to write The Batman script

'I’m a real believer in not doing, not reverse engineering projects to meet a window or a date, but rather like when you get the right story'

With the news that Justice League 2 has been delayed to make way for Ben Affleck's The Batman, some fans were led to believe the film's release date would be pushed forward as early as 2018.

That no longer seems very likely, as Ben Affleck told The New York Times (via Den of Geek) that the film is still a long way off as: "we still have to get a screenplay and get it together". He at least confirmed he's still set to take on writing duties for the project; that's alongside starring and directing, which surely marks for the greatest amount of creative control seen on a superhero project of this scale.

"That doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be good," he jokingly added; yet, for an Oscar-winning talent to take on such a direct control of a project like this is perhaps exactly the shot of adrenaline the DCEU needs.

"I’m a real believer in not doing, not reverse engineering projects to meet a window or a date, but rather like when you get the right story or you get the right idea or you get the right thing, then you make the movie", he added. "And so that’s what we’re doing, and I’m hoping to get that done and spending a lot of time on that, but I’m also working on other stuff. And if I could, if I can find it right then there’s nothing I’d love more than to direct a standalone, you know, iconic great Batman movie."

Affleck's words are certainly reassuring; a frequent contributor to many of the recent major Hollywood disasters has been rushed schedules and studio pressure to meet enterprising release dates - just take a look at Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, for example.

So better to wait and get an amazing Batfleck movie, rather than rush and get a mediocre one; until then, we've still got both Justice League on 16 November, 2017 and the recently confirmed date for Aquaman on 5 October, 2018.