Earlier this week, superhero fans breathed a sigh of relief when we learned that Matt Reeves, the director of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War of the Planet of the Apes, was going to be replacing Ben Affleck as the director of The Batman. Matt Reeves is a respectable director who’s used to jumping into an existing franchise and making them his own.
But you know, there’s a reason why we usually don’t report on actors and filmmakers who are “in talks” for a project, and that’s because “in talks” doesn’t mean anyone’s signed a contract yet. For everyone who’s been in talks and eventually made a movie there have been countless others whose talks fell through. And that’s exactly what happened this week when Matt Reeves reportedly dropped out.
Also: Mel Gibson Says He’s in Talks to Direct ‘Suicide Squad 2’
According to Hollywood Reporter, talks have “broken down” between Matt Reeves and Warner Bros., even though theoretically they could resume in the future. Other directors who were/are supposedly being considered to direct The Batman include Ridley Scott (Alien) and Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe).
Whoever the studio ends up choosing, it’s very likely that we’re going to hear an announcement very soon. The caped crusader has been one of the studio’s biggest moneymakers for decades, and with several of the DC Extended Universe movies performing below expectations at the box office, it only stands to reason that a new, solo Batman movie is one of their biggest priorities at the moment.
Eight Iconic Superhero Fights You Will Never See in a Movie:
Top Photo: Warner Bros.
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
Eight Iconic Superhero Fights You Will Never See in a Movie
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Avengers vs. X-Men
Marvel's biggest superhero teams came to blows in the epic, multi-series crossover Avengers vs. X-Men (a.k.a. AvX) in 2012, but the two franchises are owned by different studios - Avengers at Disney, X-Men at Fox - and it's unlike they will ever want to share the profits on what could be the biggest movie ever produced.
Photo: Marvel
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Batman vs. Guy Gardner
Warner Bros. owns the rights to both Batman and Guy Gardner, Earth's jerkiest Green Lantern, but the odds that they'll actually put Gardner in a movie - especially when Hal Jordan, John Stewart and Kyle Rayner are more popular - are pretty slim. So the iconic fight in which Batman took Guy out in a single punch will, sadly, probably never make it in front of the cameras.
Photo: DC
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Daredevil vs. Sub-Mariner
In one of the great early Marvel superhero fights, Sub-Mariner emerged from Atlantis to destroy humanity, and only Daredevil was around to stop him. Outmatched in every way, Daredevil fought until he collapsed. Sub-Mariner respected his fearlessness so much he figured humanity was worth sparing. Both characters are owned by Marvel, but the studio is still trying to get the rights to Sub-Mariner sorted out after the character was originally optioned by Universal.
Photo: Marvel
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The Hulk vs. The Thing
The strongest, most misunderstood monsters in the Marvel Universe have a long and storied history of beating the crap out of each other. Who is strongest? Who is toughest? We may never know in live-action, since Fox owns the rights to Fantastic Four and Marvel's got The Hulk under their own banner.
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Marvel vs. DC
It took decades for Marvel and DC to set aside their differences long enough for a comic book crossover between their competing superhero universes, and it will probably be at least that long before Marvel Studios and Warner Bros. seriously consider letting Batman fight Captain America, Superman fight Thor, and so on and so forth.
Photo: Marvel and DC
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Superboy vs. Superboy Prime
The teenaged clone of Superman and Lex Luthor repeatedly fought an alternate reality Superboy who was a dangerously insane mass murderer. Yeah, even though Warner Bros. obviously owns both Superboy and Superboy Prime, the odds that we'll ever see their weird, epic, head-exploding battle on the big screen are extremely low.
Photo: DC
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Superman vs. Muhammad Ali
Aliens have challenged Earth's mightiest champion, but when Superman steps forward, the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali points out that he's not really from Earth. So they fight to prove who is truly the greatest, and sure enough, Muhammad Ali kicks Superman's ass (in all fairness, the hero's powers were deactivated, and he put up a good fight). But it seems highly unlikely that Warner Bros. will decide to send Superman back in time to fight Ali in his prime, doesn't it?
Photo: DC
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Wolverine vs. Anyone Cool
In the Marvel Comics, fighting Wolverine is like a rite of passage. He's had iconic tussles with The Hulk, Captain America and Spider-Man, and was thrown head-to-head against any rookie hero that the publisher wanted to prove was a badass. But Wolverine is owned by Fox, who only have the rights to the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. We will probably never see Wolverine fight an Avenger in a live-action movie, and that sucks.
Photo: Marvel
