It’s a depressing when people assume the ultimate ambition of any filmmaker must be to work on a Hollywood blockbuster, specifically a superhero movie. As entertaining as the best of the MCU and DC are, those characters and settings are hugely valuable corporate IP, so you’re tightly restricted in the kinds of stories, themes, and politics you can include.
All of which meant that Sorry to Bother You and I’m a Virgo director Boots Riley was understandably dismissive when a fan fantasized about him being given “an unlimited budget and total freedom to make a Batman movie” Riley responded with a simple “Why hope for me to waste years of my life on such a thing?”
Why hope for me to waste years of my life on such a thing? https://t.co/aruJO9OHhP
— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) July 11, 2025
He has a point. Sure, helming a Batman movie means a boost to your profile and all-but-guarantees you’ll get the biggest audiences of your career, but it’s going to come with major strings attached.
Riley literally identifies as a communist and his work is loaded with none-too-subtle anti-capitalist messaging. Even if he were to be given total freedom to make a communist Batman movie that critiques capitalism (which Warner Bros head David Zaslav wouldn’t allow in a million years), is that even a story worth telling? Doing that effectively would probably mean ditching having a billionaire hero beating up working-class criminals, and if you get rid of that, is it even still a Batman story?
A director can only make so many movies?
Then there’s the simple fact that a director can only make so many movies in their lifetime. Riley is 54, so isn’t even close to retiring, but would he want to commit four or five of his prime creative years to working on a superhero project he’d never be able to make his own?
All that said, Christopher Nolan proves that you can indeed immerse yourself in the Bat-verse and then use that success to convince studios to fund your passion projects. But, even with movies like Oppenheimer, Nolan is still aiming for widespread mainstream success.
All of which means Riley should just continue doing what he does best and avoid corporate superhero movie directing jobs like the plague. Anyone who’s seen Sorry to Bother You will know there’s nobody out there telling stories like Riley, and I am very much looking forward to his upcoming sci-fi comedy, I Love Boosters.
