The second quote was when he was in talks "reportedly" to direct Man of Steel before Snyder. For a long time comic book fan he certainly doesn't seem to have much love for the big screen genre. I don't think he would be the person for the job because I suspect that he'd just dial it in. With the cluster____ that WB has in trying to push this film out yesterday they need someone who not only loves the characters but also loves the genre of superhero films and would give it the respect it'd need to come off respectable.
You're probably reading too much into that quote, though. There were a number of reasons he turned down MoS. it doesn't mean he's not a fan of the character, or the genre. He is. But he's still early into his directing career and establishing himself so there are other types of films he'd like to make personally. Maybe the timing is better for him now after having done another drama, ARGOS (a film that includes Jack Kirby as part of the plot specially because Affleck is such a huge fan and demanded he be in there instead of an amalgam character). We shall see.