The Batman finally has a great team in place, and all of the right pieces are there for Warner Bros. to make a great solo movie about the Caped Crusader. It just may not happen as soon as fans want it to. Director Matt Reeves is officially signed on to direct the movie, but because of his commitments to Planet of the Apes, he won't be able to start any sort of work on The Batman until at least June.

According to Variety's Justin Kroll via Twitter, Matt Reeves is contracted to work on War for the Planet of the Apes until at least the end of June. Since the movie doesn't come out until July 14, it seems likely that the director will probably have to be doing press right up until the movie comes out, so July seems possibly more realistic in terms of really being able to dive into The Batman. Here is what Justin Kroll had to say about it.

"Hearing Matt Reeves contracted to work on Apes till at least end of June, so production on Batman likely not starting till 2018."

Since Matt Reeves is going to be busy with the third movie in the very successful Planet of the Apes reboot, he won't really have time for anything related to Batman. Or at least not much. That means pre-production, any work he wants to do on the script and casting will have to wait until his obligations on War for the Planet of the Apes are over with. That being the case, Justin Kroll also made it clear that any casting rumors that surface between now and then probably shouldn't be believed.

"Also means any casting rumors you hear are likely BS seeing that he wouldn't have time to meet with any talent till at least July"

While most DC fans don't want to wait any longer to see Ben Affleck in his own, standalone Batman movie, this is probably a good thing. Matt Reeves seemingly won't be having to rush things and that is for the best. Joe Manganiello, who is playing the villain Deathstroke in the movie, recently said that they won't be rushing to hit a certain start date. They are trying to get this movie right. Reeves was reluctant to sign on the dotted line to direct the movie after Ben Affleck announced that he was no longer going to be taking on the task, with negotiations breaking down at one point. It was reported that he ultimately decided to do it because Warner Bros. gave him final say on the project, which means he clearly cares a lot about it and isn't just doing it for the paycheck. The wait may be undesirable, but this can only serve to encourage those who want to see a great Batman movie as part of the DC Extended Universe.

Ben Affleck will still be starring in and producing The Batman, in addition to his contributions to the script, which he co-write with Geoff Johns. Justice League writer Chris Terrio did a rewrite on it and that is the draft that reportedly made everyone happy. Though, Matt Reeves could decide to change some things. There is no release date set for The Batman yet but since the movie probably won't be shooting until 2018, we shouldn't expect to see the movie hit theaters until 2019. We will be sure to keep you up to date as any new information becomes available.