Ben Affleck’s solo Batman movie is officially beginning.

After a lot of will-he-or-won’t he, Warner Bros. boss Kevin Tsujihara confirmed the news at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.

Affleck will direct the Dark Knight venture from his own screenplay.

Of course there’s been a boatload of whining about director Zack Snyder’s overcaffeinated work on last month’s Batman v Superman. It was too dark, it wasn’t dark enough. It was long, it was incoherent, the villain Doomsday was a slobbering mess (OK, I agree with that).

But it was ambitious.

DC is behind Marvel. Like, way behind. So yeah, they had to pack a lot of stuff into Dawn of Justice to really kickstart its whole DC Extended Universe.

Even Marvel great Stan Lee knew what was at stake. “DC is trying to catch up to Marvel,” he told Postmedia Network last year. “They have a lot of catching up to do. But (the problem is) Marvel has so many heroes. DC just has Superman, Batman and maybe Wonder Woman.”

Well, they have a few more than that, Stan — Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash are all getting solo films as well — but the thing is, if you’re a fan of comics or superhero movies in general, there’s a lot to be excited about in the coming years (boy, how I wish I was a kid again).

So cool it with the complaining.

Here are five reasons to be happy Batfleck’s rising.

1. IT’S A BRAND NEW SLATE

As much as I love director Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, I’m intrigued that Ben Affleck’s take positions the character as a hero who’s been at this awhile. In Batman v Superman, Robin’s already dead, killed by the Joker, and there are other villains still out there. Eagle-eyed viewers can spot the Riddler’s “?” during one of the film’s climactic fight scenes. Affleck’s solo story could be a spinoff from Suicide Squad (we already know he’s in it), with the Dark Knight going after the Clown Prince of Crime. Or he could be fighting an entirely new nemesis.

2. IT’S NOT GOING TO BE AN ORIGIN TALE

Whatever shape Affleck’s Batman tale takes, we’re not going to get yet another origin story. Which means Bats can get down to business.

3. AFFLECK IS ACTUALLY A REALLY GOOD DIRECTOR

People sometimes forget that Daredevil (Ben’s previous outing as a superhero) happened 13 years ago. He’s a much more accomplished actor and director now. He’s won an Oscar and a Directors Guild prize (for 2012’s Argo). And he knows how to direct action (look at his work on The Town for proof). While Zack Snyder has a knack for visuals, some of the fight sequences in Dawn of Justice were muddled and overwhelmed by CGI. Affleck will be able to render his scenes a little more realistically.

4. THERE’S A LOT OF GREAT MATERIAL TO DRAW FROM

True, Affleck has written his own screenplay with help from Geoff Johns. But one thing’s for sure: comics have gotten really good over the last decade. Even if he’s just glanced at what’s been happening with Batman, writers like Scott Snyder, Frank Miller, Jeph Loeb and others, he’s bound to infuse the character with even darker tones than Christopher Nolan.

5. IT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE RATED R

Now that Deadpool has confirmed that there’s an audience for R-rated superheroes, we might finally get to see a Batman that’s not sanitized for a PG-13 crowd. Yup, there might actually be blood. Not that I’m some twisted individual, but the Caped Crusader is a dark character who fights ultraviolent villains. He’s not really for kids (with apologies to my six-year-old nephew), and finally we may get to see that realized on the big screen.

Twitter: @markhdaniell

mdaniell@postmedia.com