Early this morning news broke that Ben Affleck, he of the Mallrats fame, was named the next Batman, for the upcoming Man of Steel sequel, set to be released in 2015.
Since I’m on the West Coast, I was a little late to the Twittersphere #Batfleck blow up, mostly filled with cries from comic nerds (and wannabe comic nerds) about how awful Affleck will be as the Caped Crusader.
I am a Batman fan. Not a huge Batman fan, but I’d grade myself at your above-average fan. I read some of the comic books, loved the TV series, and all of the movies (OK, maybe not Batman & Robin, with Arnold as Mr. Freeze and lines like, “Let’s kick some ice”). He was always my favorite superhero, and Joker was always my second favorite villain – period. Something mysterious, yet human about the Gotham guardian (probably because he is human, just your regular ol’ guy. Wasn’t bit by a bat, never mutated from another animal, wasn’t sent down from some odd place in the sky).
I also love the Dark Knight trilogy, ranking it No. 2, behind the original Star Wars trilogy, on my personal list of favorite trilogies (sorry, The Godfather: Part 3 didn’t cut it for me). If the wife and I can’t decide on a flick, we’ll usually pop on The Dark Knight or The Dark Knight Rises, entertaining, well-done, and thought-provoking for an action/superhero flick.
Like most of the Twittersphere, my first thought was to hate the pick. I loved Christian Bale as Batman, was disappointed he wasn’t going to return, and more disappointed that they were going to throw Batman into another flick so soon after the The Dark Knight Rises.
Personally I was more bummed that it was a Superman / Batman movie rather than the Justice League flick I was looking forward to. I guess it could happen, using Superman vs. Batman as a lead-in.
Affleck seems too old. He doesn’t strike me as an action star, someone that is going to glide off buildings or kick someone in the chest (I guess that’s why they have stunt doubles).
However, he’ll probably make a good Bruce Wayne. He seems to have that playboy role down, or at least has the look of it.
He also has the jaw to look decent behind the mask (that’s what really counts right?).
Please see my “Artist Rendition” of Affleck before and after I used Microsoft Paint to scribble on the Batman mask. Pretty sweet eh?
He’ll probably turn out to be a decent Batman, despite his terrible turn in Daredevil. He’ll be a veteran actor to go alongside rising star Henry Cavill aka Superman.
In the meantime, what will this all mean? Not much. Just a lot of Twitter-bashing. (My favorite was from the Facebook page The Dork Side that said, “You know that saying, “Be yourself unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman.”? No, Ben Affleck, this should not apply to you.”)
A lot of lame memes (and some good ones).
No confirmation of the rumors that Matt Damon has signed on to play Robin, though those memes are fun as well.
And the anticipation of what looks like will be a HUGE year at the movies in 2015. Listen to the list of movies scheduled to join Superman vs. Batman in 2015: The Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, Mission Impossible 5, Bond 24, Avatar 2, Independence Day 2 (What?! They come back on the 4th again!?), Fantastic Four, Pirates of the Caribbean 5, Kung Fu Panda 3, Peanuts (yes, the Snoopy kind), Cinderella (the live-action type), Finding Dory, movie versions of Assasin’s Creed and World of Warcraft, a Terminator reboot, and the one I’ve already put my lawn chair in line for Star Wars: Episode VII.
Should be fun!
Tell us what you think about Affleck as Batman (or my artwork above) in the comments below!
3 comments
Mike Browne says:
Aug 23, 2013
I can see it already, thanks to your artistic rendering.
Seriously, I’ve been a Ben Affleck defender for a long time – not the best actor, but a charismatic one with a great sense of humor, so I feel like a hypocrite for saying this, but he does seem insufficient for this part. Physically sure, he’s broad-shouldered and brawny (maybe a better fit for Superman?), but as an actor, even when he wipes that smirk off his face, I always see it. He doesn’t disappear into characters as well as someone like Christian Bale can. Maybe it’s the fame level. He’s a Tom Cruise/George Clooney type, where no matter how hard they try, you can’t shake your awareness that it’s Tom Cruise and George Clooney. I just worry that this is the first step towards an eventual “Batman & Robin” fiasco of miscasting. But hopefully not.
P.S. KJ – is the “Back to the Future” trilogy anywhere on that list?
KJ says:
Aug 23, 2013
Darnit! I wanted to mention that Affleck’s casting reminded me more of the casting for Clooney as Batman. More Bruce Wayne-ish, less Batman-ish. I always do my best thinking in the car when I can’t jot down notes!
Back to the Future? Hmm…No. 3 was OK. I’ll have to think of that. Hmm, the top trilogies of all-time. I smell a bLISTerd in our future.
GG says:
Aug 23, 2013
Thing about Affleck to me is that I think his future is as a director rather than as an actor. Of course, he’ll do both, but his strength is in the vision.
Agree on BTTF. I didn’t like 3 that much.
Rocky has that double trilogy action.