Josh Falcone – General Assignment Reporter
When it was announced last month that Ben Affleck was cast as Batman in the Zach Snyder “Man of Steel” sequel slated for 2015 reacted mostly negatively, but Affleck is a great choice.
On August 22nd when Warner Bros. announced that Ben Affleck would be donning the cape and cowl of the Dark Knight and his multi-millionaire playboy alter ego Bruce Wayne opposite Henry Cavill’s Superman/Clark Kent Twitter, Facebook, and pop culture website discussion boards were filled with outcry and disgust. There is even a petition on Change.org with over 91,000 signatures demanding Warner Bros. recast the role.
Perhaps those people were thinking of Affleck’s other superhero role in the 2003 film “Daredevil,” in which yes, Affleck was bad. But that was not just his fault, the whole film was terrible, and Affleck was also still in place in his acting career were almost everything his acting chops touched was crap. “Daredevil.” “Gigli.” “Paycheck.” “Jersey Girl.” That is Affleck’s filmography from February 2003 until March 2004, what do they all have in common? They absolutely suck. It looked like the guy had peaked; the buzz from his success with “Good Will Hunting” had disappeared.
But something happened with 2006’s “Hollywoodland.” Affleck’s performance as George Reeves, 1950’s TV Superman was met with positive reviews, and since then Affleck has had a career resurgence in his acting with the critically acclaimed “The Town” and “Argo.” Affleck can act: in addition to those two films, see his performance in “Boiler Room” and “Company Men” to see that he can handle the role.
Outcry over the casting of Batman and his arch-nemesis is nothing new as well. When it was announced that Michael Keaton would play the role in Tim Burton’s 1989 “Batman,” people flipped. Many said that ‘Mr. Mom’ couldn’t play the caped crusader; people wrote letters to Warner Bros. protesting the casting, it being pre-internet and all. When Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight,” there was internet and the same vitriol that is being spewed now at Affleck, Snyder and Warner Bros. was being aimed at Ledger, Nolan, and Warner Bros. Nobody thought Ledger could play pull off the Joker after watching him in “10 Things I Hate About You” and “A Knight’s Tale.” Keaton’s turn as the Bat was a huge success grossing $251 million in 1989, when a movie ticket cost $3.97. Ledger’s performance as the Clown Prince of Crime was even more successful earning $533 million in 2008 and landing Ledger a posthumous Academy Award for the role.
Affleck has to be accepted in this roll or he’ll severely de-rail Warner Bros. plan to release a Justice League film to compete against Disney and Marvel’s The Avengers.
That’s right; Warner Bros. wants to start its’ own comic book film universe and is banking on the Man of Steel sequel to continue that plan. If the film fails, it would delay that plan.
Affleck will also probably pull off the role because as much as celebrities say they don’t pay attention to the press and the wild west that is social media, they do. Besides, Affleck doesn’t live in a cave; he knows a lot of people are pissed at his casting as Batman.
He could do what Ledger did and immerse himself into the comic and graphic novels culling pieces of Batman and Bruce Wayne from various source materials.
Affleck is perfect for the rumored Batman/Bruce Wayne that will be featured in the film, an older, wiser, world weary crime fighter/ philanthropist, who schools a young, inexperienced, naïve Superman/Clark Kent.
We’ll find out if Affleck can pull it off in July 2015. If not, hopefully Superman throws Batman off the top of the Daily Planet.
