The other night Warner Brothers' Studios reported that they have signed the next Batman. As I stated in a previous blog, everyone from Josh Brolin to Orlando Bloom was rumored for the role. But in the end the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman went to Ben Affleck.
I have been thinking a lot about this since the announcement last night and the more I think about it, the more I like it. He has played a super hero before in Marvel's Daredevil in 2003. The reviews of the movie are not great, but that can hardly be blamed on Affleck. I am a big Daredevil fan and I have always respected Affleck. There are things about that movie that I would change, but is Affleck one of them? No. The writing itself was not that good. It took awhile to get into the story. Yes, I know origin stories can be like that, but I thought the script itself was bland.
Ben Affleck has been around Hollywood long enough to see his share of ups and downs. He was written off in Hollywood following a string of bombs that most men would not be able to recover from. He reinvented himself as a director and all of a sudden, he is back on everyone's good side again. And now he gets to play one of the most iconic characters in film. Can he do it?
I believe that he can. He has the acting chops to make it as both Batman and Bruce Wayne. I personally think he is more fitted to play Bruce, but I have a feeling that the script won't call for a lot of screen time for him without the cowl. I could be mistaken; I mean, I haven't seen the script. Time will tell on that matter.
Affleck has seen his share of action films from Armageddon to Paycheck to Reindeer Games and even Pearl Harbor. So we know he can handle the action that he will be required to do as Batman as well. He has about 2 inches over Henry Cavill, and from my comic books, Batman is supposed to have a few inches on Superman. Affleck is also 11 years older than his Superman counterpart, which fits into the reported vision for the film. He is young enough that he can do multiple movies as Batman, if this one is a success, and there is no reason to believe that it won't be.
I saw this picture on the Marvel Movies Facebook page. Granted it came from another site so it might not be exactly how Marvel feels about this. But may I remind you that there were skeptics that said Robert Downey Jr. would make a horrible Tony Stark in Iron Man. I think that worked out pretty well.
In fact, the reviews have been pretty mixed on the internet about this. Earlier this week, #BetterBatmanThanAffleck was trending. But I have a feeling that they just might change their minds when the movie comes out.
In closing, I say that Ben Affleck is a good choice although he has some pretty big shoes to fill. Christian Bale was a great Batman (also met with some resistance from the Internet of Fan Boys, if I remember correctly, by the way). But because he will be sharing the screen with Superman, I think it will make it easier on him. And if this is the beginging of A Justice League movie that fans have been craving, I think it is a very good start!
And in honor of the internet trashing a movie before it comes out (and Ben Affleck as well) I am in the mood to watch Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back!
Special thanks to my lovely editor and wonderful fiancée.
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