Ben Affleck as Batman: Why it's the right choice.

Ever since the closing shot of The Dark Knight Rises last summer, speculation had begun surrounding what was next for the Batman franchise. Earlier this year at San Diego’s Comic Con event, Man of Steel director Zack Snyder finally gave us an answer. Here’s a link to that exact moment.

Henry Lennix reading a quote from The Dark Knight Returns, the graphic novel in which The Dark Knight Rises was loosely based on. Haven’t read it? You should or watch the animation version which is equally as epic. So once Warner Brothers confirmed they were planning a Superman/Batman movie speculation continued as to who exactly would portray Bruce Wayne. Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin were named the early front runners, Christian Bale was apparently offered $50 million to return while Orlando Bloom was also rumoured to have been considered, let’s hope that last one was just a rumour. Two weeks ago Warner Brothers finally announced that Ben Affleck would be the new Batman. To say that the response to Affleck’s casting was negative, would be an understatement. Since the news broke, thousands of petitions have been sent around the Internet, asking for Affleck to be removed from the role. People have even requested President Obama make it illegal for Warner Brothers to cast Affleck. Seriously calm down people, it’s just a movie at the end of the day. The casting of Affleck came as quite a surprise to many people but I personally wasn’t surprised at all, I thought it was quite the obvious choice. Now would Ben Affleck of been my first choice for the role? No. But do I believe Ben Affleck is the right choice for the role? Yes.

 Before I explain my reasoning as to why I believe Ben Affleck is the right choice, let me just note down a few things. I’m a huge fan of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy; it’s the Star Wars trilogy of our generation which will leave a huge legacy on cinematic history, the trilogy which changed the way comic book movies were made. Christian Bale will always be Batman to me personally, but that doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy watching how someone else performs in the role. Was it stupid of Warner Brothers to reboot Batman so soon? Yes, but they are playing catch up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Instead of thinking with their heads they are thinking with their wallets. Do I think it is stupid to introduce Batman in the Man of Steel sequel? Yes, I do once again. They should let Superman find his own feet first within this new franchise but this is Warner Brother’s quick attempt to counter The Avengers: Age of Ultron, which is released the same summer. Instead of learning from Marvel’s intelligent build towards a successful Avengers movie, Warner Brothers instead are rushing their DC Comic properties towards a Justice League movie. To be honest I could write a whole article about this. I might in the future. But the point is do I think Man of Steel 2, Batman vs. Superman or Superman vs. Batman whatever it ends up being called, will be successful? Well of course. People will be intrigued either way. But the one reason I believe Warner Brothers might stand a chance of competing successfully with the Marvel Cinematic Universe regarding the film quality is Ben Affleck.

 

Now people being apart of the hate bandwagon is nothing new. I remember clearly when Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker; people were claiming how could the gay cowboy from Brokeback Mountain be The Joker? Two years later not only did Ledger’s role go down as one of the greatest performances in comic book history, it went down as one of the greatest of all-time with Ledger being rewarded with an Oscar. Daniel Craig was labelled the Blonde Bond that nobody could ever imagine being James Bond, many of them same people now claim he is the best ever. People even questioned the casting decision of Robert Downey Jr. as Ironman when it was first announced. Now I’m not speaking on behalf of everyone but my point is, people are quick to change their mind and then claim they supported that actor the entire time. Does every casting decision always work out? No of course not. But people are too quick to judge, wait until you’ve seen the movie first or at least footage before you criticise a casting decision, because the casting directors in the audition room clearly liked something they saw.

 

I’m not the biggest fan of Ben Affleck’s acting ability. I never have been, I’ll admit I haven’t seen many of the movies in which he has starred. I’ve always preferred Matt Damon. But I do like Affleck’s performance as Neil in He’s Just Not That Into You. So you’re probably asking yourself, why do I believe Ben Affleck is the right choice for Batman? Ben Affleck might not be the strongest actor in the world, but what people are forgetting is, Ben Affleck is a fantastic filmmaker. That is the part of this news which intrigues me the most. For those not familiar with Ben Affleck’s directional efforts Gone Baby Gone, The Town and Argo you should check them out. Argo won the Best Picture at the Oscar’s last year with people and critics claiming it was a crime Affleck wasn’t nominated himself in the directing category, considering he picked up nearly every other major directing award along the way. Some of the action sequences within The Town were largely inspired by The Dark Knight. Affleck even stating he considers Christopher Nolan an influence on his work. Its interesting Christopher Nolan actually first offered Ben Affleck the chance to direct Man of Steel, before Affleck declined and Nolan approached Zack Snyder instead. So Nolan clearly admires Affleck's filmmaking skills. Warner Brothers then approached Ben Affleck to direct the eventual Justice League of America movie but Affleck once again declined. It’s funny how these things come around in circles. Ben Affleck is a highly rated filmmaker at Warner Brothers after the success of The Town and Argo, which is why it came as no surprise to me they would approach Ben Affleck to play Batman. Why? Because Ben Affleck directs and stars in his own movies, which means playing Bruce Wayne will eventually lead to Ben Affleck directing the eventual Batman reboot, which is only a positive thing for moviegoers and comic book fans. Affleck is known to be a huge comic book fan, especially Batman so he knows the source material well and will treat it with the respect it deserves unlike many filmmakers or screen writers who ignore the original source material completely. Remember Ben Affleck is a screenwriter too, he co-wrote Gone Baby Gone and The Town along with winning an Oscar for co-writing Good Will Hunting with Matt Damon. Affleck brings a lot more to the table then just being an actor, which will only be an added bonus for Zack Snyder on set.

 

Ben Affleck will know he will need to step up, anyone replacing Christian Bale was going to find it tough. But since Affleck has begun directing his own movies, I’ll admit his acting ability has improved. Acclaimed directors such as Terrence Malick and David Fincher have cast Ben Affleck in their latest movies which means Affleck is clearly now a talent the best directors want to work with. Most actors would jump at the chance to work with Fincher or Malick but these guys are approaching Affleck, which only is a benefit for Affleck because he wants to still learn from the best directors around both as an actor and a filmmaker. When I attended the premiere of Argo last year, I heard Ben Affleck discuss the movie on the stage in front of me and you can tell firstly this guy knows what he is talking about, he is a very intelligent filmmaker but also at the end of the day, he clearly loves movies. Has he made bad career choices in the past? Yes, but he obviously wants to turn that around and the past few years, Affleck has done that. I might not have liked Ben Affleck before, but in recent years, he has won me over as a filmmaker and I actually consider him an inspiration. Ben Affleck is still in good shape, he has the Bruce Wayne look about him, same height, dark features, square jaw and I believe he has all the qualities to be a successful Bruce Wayne/Batman. Ben Affleck being in control of the Batman reboot means we as an audience are in the safe hands of one of the best filmmakers working in the industry, a real talent but most importantly a comic book fan. I wish Ben Affleck the best of luck in the role and hope he is able to win over the doubters both in front and behind the camera.

 

Anyone not familiar with Ben Affleck’s directional efforts? I’ve attached the trailers for The Town and Argo above and below to help demonstrate Affleck’s filmmaking ability. Who would have been my choice for Batman? Jon Hamm who appears as the FBI agent in the Town, who you see in the trailer. But I’m genuinely happy with the casting decision of Ben Affleck because he offers a lot more to the future of the overall Batman franchise then perhaps a single actor could under the wrong direction. Thank you for reading.