Rumors and questions are currently circling around Warner Bros.’ The Batman, after star Ben Affleck dropped out of the director’s chair earlier this week in order to focus on his performance, and also on not getting asked questions about directing The Batman all the goddamn time. Names on the shortlist to replace him are rumored to include Matt Reeves, from the recent Planet Of The Apes franchise, and Captain Fantastic director Matt Ross. Now, though, there’s a petition circulating to hand the job to the one man who really understands this relentlessly grim, God-bleeding version of The Dark Knight: Zack Snyder.
Created by ScreenGeek writer Jennifer Huneycutt, the petition lauds Snyder for his refusal to inflict dreaded “artistic license” on rigorously faithful comic book adaptations like 300 or Watchmen, while praising him for his “beautifully dark DCEU.” (We’d argue that decisions like making Pa Kent commit suicide-by-tornado in Man Of Steel, or turning Lex Luthor into a giggling, piss-pranking Silicon Valley tech dweeb in Batman V. Superman might also constitute “artistic license,” but we don‘t want to be the haters that the petition orders to “pipe down.”) Somewhat shockingly, at least 3,500 people seem to agree with Huneycutt’s appreciation for Snyder’s joy-free superhero slogs, signing on to the idea that DC’s cinematic universe can only catch up to the diversely directed MCU by keeping things in the hands of a single, “Martha!”-shouting creative voice.