If Ben Affleck Directs The Justice League Movie I’ll…

I don’t know enough about Affleck as a director to know if he has it in him to do JLA. I knew Joss Whedon could do the Avengers, no problem. 

Yes, Daredevil was bad. But he was acting, not directing or writing. 

First!

 I really wish they would give it to somebody invested more in comics…

Affleck is a pretty terrible actor but he’s a fairly decent director.  Both “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Town” are very solid enjoyable films.  I think they got a bit more praise than they deserve just cause everyone was surprised an Affleck directed movie didn’t suck, but I don’t think the idea of him as a Justice League helmer is necessarily a bad one.

He has a decent track record as a writer and director: Gone Baby Gone,  Goodwill Hunting, The Town, but he hasn’t tackled the kind of big budget, special effects extravaganza that JLA will be.

I remember Kevin Smith was originally supposed to direct a Superman movie but he backed out because he didn’t think he could handle it.

On the other hand Jon Favreau went from movies like Swingers and Elf to direct Iron Man and Iron Man 2.

I think he’ll use his experience from Daredevil and The Town and do a good job.

I don’t get why people are still expecting the worst of Ben Affleck.  Sure, he’s done a few paycheck projects, but the guy does have a screenwriting Oscar, a lot of quality work as an actor, and two pretty great movies as a director with “Argo” looking spiffy.  His recent work, especially, has been good stuff.

Certainly, just on the basis of what he’s done lately, Affleck should get the benefit of the doubt.  It’s weird that he never does.

Absolutely.  It actually excites me.  People like to make fun of him, but he’s a great director who can clearly handle an ensemble cast.

*sigh* Yeah, my first reaction was more along the lines of “That’s not true… that’s impossible!” but I must confess that I have some inexplicable bias against him that I can’t rightly explain :-/ 
When Whedon was first announced, it was more like “America! F$!# yeah!” but that’s because the material he’s done in the past made me think he could do it justice.
Not so sure about this Affleck thing…

Kevin Smith didn’t think he could handle Jon Peters’ ridiculous demands, like no costume, no flying, Nic Cage, and a big spider…

Finish this sentence!  “If Ben Affleck Directs The Justice League Movie I’ll…”

…go see it!

I don’t get why fans are upset by this. Have you seen “Gone Baby Gone,”
or “The Town,” or the trailer for “Argo?” Being a huge DD fan, I was
probably let down more than most by “Daredevil,” but Affleck didn’t
write or direct it for crying out loud. He’s two for two as a director
as far as I’m concerned.

If this is true I will still have to wait to see the casted actors and who is writing the script (is their a script yet?). While the director is obviously important he isn’t writing it so that will be another key factor as how well it will come out. Affleck directing with Kevin Smith writing the script and codirecting or producing would be fine with me. Kevin Smith hopefully will somehow link with this he did a great job on his Batman comics so he can do a lot for JL.

Speaking only for myself, I could easily accept him directing Justice League. Affleck has spent much of the latter half of his career basically apologizing for the stupid roles he’s taken in the past. I’ve heard he’s a huge fan of comic books so I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing him try his hand at a superhero film.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think its gonna happen anytime soon. Not with Justice League or anything else close to it for that matter. “The Town” and “Gone Baby Gone” are some of the greatest crime dramas of the past decade, but none of what you see in them suggests an understanding on what it takes to direct a huge Hollywood blockbuster.

Not to say Affleck couldn’t pull it off. In fact, part of whats made Marvel’s connected films interesting is to see them go with non-traditional directing choices. Lets not forget Marvel chose Kenneth Branagh, a Shakespearean trained director to bring Thor to screen. I still remember some people bitching and whining about how the film was gonna end up pretentious, or that Branagh just didn’t ‘get’ the material. In the end, Branagh’s knowledge of Shakespearean acting, staging, and directing gave the film a larger then life tone to it, exactly how a Thor movie should.

I guess what I’m saying is, don’t get hung up with what the director’s done before. Affleck may have been accomplice in some pretty terrible films but he’s also known for working well with ensemble’s of actors and managing inter-character relationships really well, two things that could come in handy when directing a Justice League movie.

But I digress, I doubt he’ll end up directing JL. Affleck is far too comfortable in his own wheelhouse to suddenly shift gears and direct a huge Superhero movie. The Stand is also a huge movie, but its a lot more in tuned with his sensibilities as a director and actor.

I’ve never been much of a big Ben Affleck: Actor fan, but I will say that I have quite enjoyed Ben Affleck: Director’s work. In both “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Town” he captured very strong performances from exceptional actors (Amy Ryan and Jeremy Renner in particular) and The Town had some exciting and well shot action sequences (a particular car chase on the street of Boston comes to mind). They also had a very humanistic approach and had a very grounded approach to depicting Boston’s less than flattering neighborhoods.

Humanistic and grounded aren’t necessarily the first words I’d think of when it comes to the Justice League, and he has no experience I’m aware of in directing such a effects-heavy film, but I wouldn’t write off his skill as a director and he could bring an interested perspective to the film. If the rumors are true, I’m definitely intrigued rather than put off.

My gut reaction was, “Shit,” but only because my first image of Ben Affleck and Superheroes is Dare Devil. However, on second thought, the guy’s not a bad director. He’s directed some critically acclaimed movies. I guess now, my only question would be, can he direct a super hero movie? We’ll just have to wait and see, but I’m frankly optimistic.

Affleck gets a lot of stick because of some questionable roles he’s done in the past, which is of course fair. But a) that was a long time ago, when he was making questionable decisions personally and professionally; b) they have no bearing on his directorial skills, which are actually pretty good on the basis of the evidence thus far; and c) even back then he spotted what went wrong, which was why he backed off from further superhero roles. From what I’ve seen, he has a passion for this stuff, and he’s got the skills to make it work better than Daredevil did. As for Daredevil, even that one has a better director’s cut, one that’s slightly tolerable (though nothing brilliant), which to some extent highlights the fact that there may have been studio problems interfering with how the movie turned out- not exactly something Affleck could have controlled much without reaching Norton levels of involvement/interference (depending on how one looks at it) in the direction and production. I’d be willing to give him a shot with this, and if DC genuinely thought he has a good enough vision to warrant making him the only person to get a shot at it right now, then perhaps he did well enough to convince them when trying out for Superman.

Yeah I’m not overly fond of him as an actor and it’s hard to divorce
yourself from the only superhero work he’s done when thinking about
this. But really, he’s a solid director.

Gone Baby Gone and The Town are both perfectly decent flicks. Nothing I’d put in my top 10 but good solid movies. 

At this point I’m just cautiously optimistic.

The movie Affleck would be best suited to direct, ironically, is Daredevil. He loves the comic and his work in Gone Baby Gone and The Town show he would be good for the more grounded superhero.

On the other hand, I haven’t seen anything in his work that would lead me to believe his sensibility is right for Justice League.

I really liked both “The Town” and “Gone Baby Gone,” that being said I don’t know if he’d be a good fit for a Justice League movie. 

Affleck definitely does the gritty, dark crime drama well, but personally I don’t think that’s the tone a Justice League movie needs. Warners is probably going to want to ape Nolan’s Batman style for as long as they can, but Batman’s really the only hero who can pull that off. 

Agreed!

There’s a satisfactory amount of Afleck love down below, so I’ll just add that…I liked Jersey Girl.

I was going to bring up Affleck’s Daredevil co-star, Favreau, and am glad I was beaten to it. 

Affleck jumping from Gone Baby Gone and The Town to possibly Justice League isn’t nearly as questionable as it was when Jon Favreau was announced as the director of Iron Man. (Yet I still don’t think this sounds like a good idea at all.)

Dominic Pace would make an awesome Lex. http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/mrdcuniverse/news/?a=26794

 xoxo

Both were really bad movies in terms of equality and treating the characters like real people though. Gone Baby Gone was terrible and The Town did nothing for me. 

Sure, he has a screenwriting Oscar, but that just means he can write. Writing and Directing are two different things. 
Also, does this mean Casey Affleck is going to be The Flash?

The amount of Affleck as a Director Love below breaks my heart. 

The only thing I got from Gone Baby Gone was that black people are generally bad, poor people are crack addicts, and white men save the world. 

 Right there with ya.  Afleck is an incredible director and writer(Good Will Hunting anyone, kind of won an oscar for it…)

 The only thing more pathetic than a “First!” is a failed “First!” Congratulations, you’ve hit rock bottom.

What a terrible article.  You might want to watch his films before condemning the choice. 

Me Too! 

Was it corny? Yes.  Was it infested with Smith’s trademark dick and fart jokes? Yes.

But it was still a fun and cute heartwarming movie about family. 

I’ve heard the extended edition that the studio cut up includes a few seriously introspective moments and lots of Afleck crying, which sounded good to me (I swear, not because I want to see Afleck cry) but who knows if it will ever be released?