Well, in case you live in a household without internet (which wouldn't make sense given you're reading this right now), but last night Warner Brothers officially announced that Ben Affleck will be starring opposite Henry Cavill in the yet to be titled Superman/Batman sequel to Man of Steel, as none-other than Batman aka Bruce Wayne.........yes, that Ben Affleck.
Now I know I'm behind on posting some of the following, but I just wanted to give a little bit of background on the situation in case there is at least one person out there scratching their heads wondering what the heck is going on.
So last month at San Diego Comic Con, Warner Brothers announced that they were indeed moving forward with a sequel to Man of Steel and that it would team up/pit against Superman and Batman. Obviously, for the most part, nerdgasms all around.
Naturally speculation began on who would be stepping into the cape and cowl. Reports starting flooding the interwebs that Warner Brothers was looking for an older, more grizzled and experienced Batman...think early-to-mid 40s. Soon names began to circulate, with the likes of Josh Brolin, Jim Caviezel, Jon Hamm, Gerard Bulter and even Ryan Gosling. Rumors even started that WB was willing to pay Christian Bale $50 - $60 million to come back. Well you can throw all of that out the window, because it appears we're stuck with Ben Affleck.
I'll admit, when I first heard that a Batman vs Superman movie was becoming a reality, I was pretty excited. But the more I think about it, the more it feels rushed by WB. Whether you loved or hated Man of Steel, it ultimately left us with a half completed Superman. He hasn't become that beacon of hope he's meant to be yet and there's so much of Clark's story left to tell, that I feel a stand alone MoS sequel is really what the next step should be. If you want to continue to establish a shared universe, ala Marvel, have a Bruce Wayne cameo. But no, greedy WB will allow their biggest movie property to completely hijack a newly rebooted Superman franchise...and quite frankly, I don't think that's right. If I was Henry Cavill, I'd be pissed. But I digress.
Now, when I read the casting announcement last night, I was pissed. I still am actually. I have nothing against Affleck. In fact, I actually really like him from movies like Hollywoodland, The Town and Argo. However, he is no Batman/Bruce Wayne. I've never seen him completely vanish into a character. Any film I seen with him in it, all I see is Ben Affleck...usually doing a hokey Bostonian accent...and that's what I'm now expecting to see in this Batman vs Superman movie (minus the accent, I hope). The whole time, I'll just be looking at screen thinking, "yup, that's Ben Affleck dressed as Batman...*facepalm*" I can't help to think this is total stunt casting to get people to continue to talk/debate this film. I mean, come on, hasn't anyone at WB seen Daredevil?
Anyway, regardless of my personal feelings, Ben Affleck is our new Batman and we'll all have to find a way to live with that. Who knows, maybe he'll pull a Heath Ledger and completely blow us away. Here's hoping at least...
If interested, you can check out the official press release after the break.
What do you think of the casting announcement? Love it? Hate it? Let me know what you think in the comments below.
