Batman: Frank Miller on how to make the Caped Crusader work on screen

'But it will never be in my hands, because it would not be a good place to make toys from. There wouldn't be a line of toys'

Ben Affleck's own take on the Caped Crusader returns to screens in both 2017's Justice League and solo film The Batman.

A film series Frank Miller will likely be watching with some vested interest, considering he's best known as the creator of the seminal 1986 comic series The Dark Knight Returns; it's no surprise he's also got his own opinions on which direction he'd take a cinematic Batman.

Speaking to Variety, Miller revealed that his version would be "much smaller" than what's already come before; choosing to "lose the toys and to focus more on the mission, and to use the city a great deal more. Because he's got a loving relationship with the city he's protecting. And unlike Superman his connection to crime is intimate; it was been ever since his parents were murdered."

"And he defeats criminals his hands," he continued. "So it would be a different take. But it will never be in my hands, because it would not be a good place to make toys from. There wouldn't be a line of toys."

Miller also spoke about Darren Aronofsky's stalled adaptation of his 1987 story arc Batman: Year One, which was later adapted into a 2011 animated feature; revealing, "It was much more down to earth. In it a fair amount of time is spent before he became Batman, and when he went out and fought crime he really screwed it up a bunch of times before he got it right. So it was 90-minute origins story."

And his opinion on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? "I'll just say: 'Thanks.'," he joked. "What can I say? No, actually I'll withdraw that; I'll say 'You're welcome!'"

Justice League hits UK cinemas 17 November, 2017.