Ben Affleck

It’s been a big year for Ben Affleck, who put on the black cape in both Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad this summer, but the later part of this year will see him sink his teeth into more understated, non-superhero roles. He’ll make math thrilling in The Accountant in October, and after that he’ll venture down into the gangster underworld of the 1920s in Live By Night, which is looking like an awards season contender now that its wide release date has been moved up to January 2018.

Following Batman v Superman’s underwhelming box office, DC’s Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns was promoted to the position of creative head for WB’s DC Film franchise, overseeing the studio’s upcoming slate of comic-book movies. In addition to co-writing the new solo Batman film with Ben Affleck, Johns (who recently confirmed Joe Manganiello’s casting as DC villain Deathstroke) is heavily involved with Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and in a new interview, the exec reveals how they’re making some adjustments to address complaints about Snyder’s Dawn of Justice.

Just last week, Ben Affleck shared a new set video that revealed an interesting new addition to the DCEU: Deathstroke, the masked comic-book villain who sorta-kinda resembles Deadshot. That footage left us with a couple of big questions; who is playing Deathstroke, and is he appearing in Justice League or the new solo Batman movie? DC’s Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns has given us the answer to one of those questions.

There were a lot of rumors about perennial DC Comics bad guys Deathstroke the Terminator showing up in Suicide Squad. He’s gonna be in the movie! (He wasn’t.) He’s gonna be a hired assassin competing with the Suicide Squad! (He didn’t.) He’s the breakout character in the movie! (He wasn’t.) Scott Eastwood’s gonna play him! (He didn’t.) So, so many stories about this character who wound up not being in the movie at all, in any way.

The DCEU has been keeping Ben Affleck pretty busy with Justice League and plans for a new solo Batman film, which the actor will also co-write and direct. Those commitments are partially responsible for the repeated delays on his Dennis Lehane adaptation, Live by Night, which may or may not hit theaters before the end of the year. Despite his increasingly crowded schedule, Affleck has picked up another project to direct and star in, but who knows when he’ll have the time to actually make it happen.

How was the Joker? Is Ben Affleck’s Batman a welcome addition? What about the other surprise DC cameo? Does Amanda Waller’s plan make any sense at all? Who the heck is Slipknot? How does Harley Quinn fit into the rest of the Suicide Squad? Why did they introduce Katana so late in the movie? What the hell was going on with the Enchantress? Did they really just rip off Ghostbusters with that ending? All of those topics and more are on the table for our FULL SPOILERS discussion and review of Suicide Squad.

If you liked the scene in Batman v Superman where Bruce Wayne watched YouTube videos about the future members of the Justice League, you'll love Suicide Squad. Instead of just one scene of plot-stopping fan service, Suicide Squad delivers an entire first act of soul-deadening exposition. The movie spends nearly 30 story-free minutes with a Machiavellian bureaucrat while she sits in a restaurant discussing a top secret personnel file. Here is Deadshot, the world’s greatest assassin; this is Harley Quinn, the Joker’s psychotic girlfriend. Oh, and have you heard about Captain Boomerang? And on and on and on.

Never underestimate the importance of the right song to your trailer. In the first trailer for The Accountant, we got our first glimpse at Ben Affleck’s killer set to the haunting dissonance of Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place.” And while Britt may have been right — the track may have been just a little too on the nose — gosh darn it, the whole thing just worked. Now Warner Bros. is back with a brand new trailer that teases out a little more information about the title character but kept the Radiohead song. Everything in its right place, indeed.

Project Greenlight hits a stop sign, Project Redlight; you name the pun, and Matt Damon glumly affirms. The Jason Bourne star reveals that HBO’s revival of his and Ben Affleck’s Project Greenlight has come to an end once more, and might potentially be shopped to another network.

Warner Bros. kicked things off pretty strong during today’s Comic-Con panel in Hall H, debuting a fantastic new trailer for the Wonder Woman solo movie, followed by a special sneak peek at Zack Snyder’s Justice League. In addition to screening footage from the first installment in the two-part film series, WB premiered an official photo featuring the full superhero lineup, giving us a better idea of what these characters will look like when they’re finally united.