DC Movie News Bits: JUSTICE LEAGUE Press, THE BATMAN's Original Inspiration, David Mazouz's Campaign for Another DC Role

Earlier this year, director Zack Snyder exited the post-production phase of Justice League to deal with a horrific family tragedy. Joss Whedon has stepped in to oversee reshoots, editing, and more crucial elements in completing the movie. Snyder has also stayed out of the public eye since his exit; he didn’t appear at the film’s San Diego Comic-Con panel, for example.

Now, it’s confirmed that Snyder won’t be promoting Justice League this fall. Our friends at SuperBroMovies reached out to Snyder’s publicist, who said, “Zack will not be doing any press for Justice League, but thank you for asking.” This isn’t especially surprising, but it’s nice to receive confirmation. Once again, we send the best of wishes to Snyder and his family during this time.

Justice League is scheduled to hit theaters November 17th. The fifth installment in the DC Extended Universe stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Ciarán Hinds, Amber Heard, Joe Morton, Willem Dafoe, Jeremy Irons, and J.K. Simmons. Zack Snyder directs from a script by Chris Terrio and Joss Whedon.

Following Justice League, the Dark Knight will return in The Batman, from visionary director Matt Reeves. But before Reeves came on board, Ben Affleck co-wrote a script with Geoff Johns. After Affleck left the director’s seat, Reeves chose to pursue the creation of a new story rather than stick with the old one. We don’t know a whole lot about what Affleck and Johns had, but now, we have a slightly better idea.

The Wrap’s Umberto Gonzales tweeted this week that The Batman‘s original script was inspired by David Fincher’s The Game, a mystery thriller that starred Michael Douglas. (Deathstroke actor Joe Manganiello liked this tweet.) The film tells the story of a wealthy investment banker who is given a mysterious gift: participation in a game that integrates in strange ways with his everyday life. As the lines between the banker’s real life and the game become more uncertain, hints of a large conspiracy become apparent.

…THE GAME also was the inspiration for the previous THE BATMAN script before Matt Reeves started over. https://t.co/nKYvQ3fMkL

— Umberto Gonzalez (@elmayimbe) September 12, 2017

Affleck previously expressed interest in exploring Batman’s detective skills, so it makes sense that his movie would have been inspired by a mystery thriller. Fortunately, that aspect could still be retained, as Reeves wants to tell a “noir-driven” story with Batman being a detective.

So, while Affleck’s script for The Batman has been scrapped, this is a nice little bit of trivia. Stay tuned for more as we have it.

The Batman is expected to begin shooting sometime next year, presumably for a 2019 or 2020 release.

Speaking of Batman… in addition to the movies, Warner Bros. TV is exploring an alternative origin for the Dark Knight and his characters on Fox’s Gotham. The series stars David Mazouz as a teenage Bruce Wayne, as he slowly makes the evolution to become Batman. But now, the actor is interested in another DC role.

On Twitter, Mazouz shared fan art of himself as Damian Wayne, aka Robin. He even started a #DavidForDamian campaign on social media, and fans are eating it up. In the comics, Damian is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. He goes on to assume the mantle of Robin, a persona that has been taken by many other characters.

I mean if DCEU is casting… #davidfordamian RT if you promote pic.twitter.com/HiLLH0M3HI

— David Mazouz (@realdavidmazouz) September 11, 2017

Warner Bros. has been expanding Batman’s corner of the DC Extended Universe, putting films starring Batgirl, Nightwing, Harley Quinn and Joker, and more into development. Geoff Johns has also talked about building up the Batman Family on film. So, it would make sense to bring in Damian Wayne (or another Robin) at some point. Mazouz has consistently served as a highlight on Gotham, so he certainly has the acting chops to jump from one Wayne to the other. Buuuuut Damian Wayne is of Arabic descent, and we all know how Internet people react to fictional characters being whitewashed.

Would you like to see David Mazouz switch from ~~Batkid~~ Bruce Wayne to Robin?