Ben Affleck Is The New Batman

When I initially heard about Warner Bros. announcement of their new choice for Batman, I was confused and unhappy, but is this really such a bad decision after all?

Casting a superhero is, and always will be, one of the most difficult jobs for these big films. No matter what, there will always be some fanboy in his basement on his laptop writing angry blog posts about it, because everyone has a different idea of how this character should look. In fact, casting comic book characters is even harder than casting book characters. In a book, both too much and too little description of what a character looks like can make it easier for those in charge of casting, because they either have a set look in mind, or are forced to create their own.

With iconic comic book characters, things are a little different. New 52 Batman looks different from Killing Joke Batman, or The Long Halloween Batman, so instead of one great description or one open-ended appearance, there are literally hundreds of different versions of the character to choose from.

It seems that the general consensus towards the choice of Ben Affleck is negative, but I think that people need to think back to the previous casting decisions when it comes to Batman before looking forward, because it just might change their point of view on the issue.

The main issue plaguing Affleck is that people know him as a comedy guy. His film Argo just won an Oscar, and The Town was no doubt a fantastic drama, but that doesn’t wipe away fond memories of Dogma or Mallrats. Along with that, his first adventure into the world of superhero films was, unfortunately, Daredevil, which is universally known as one of the worst superhero films out there.

Thinking of Ben Affleck as a comedy guy isn’t necessarily the biggest problem when it comes to the type of actor he is. People want a badass, tough Batman, and we’ve yet to see Affleck play a real badass character, but that doesn’t mean he can’t do it. Before The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger was mostly known for his role in the very mediocre A Knight’s Tale or his part in the romantic comedy 10 Things I Hate About You. And yet, despite these previous roles, Ledger put on the most haunting, resonating performance in the entire history of comic book films. His portrayal of the Joker has changed not only the films, but also the comics themselves, with DC’s New 52 Joker showing his very obvious influence.

As for Daredevil, everyone is entitled to a bad film. Hugh Jackman’s performance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine didn’t change the general consensus of his ability to act, or more specifically, play Wolverine. Chris Evans’ role as The Human Torch in the painfully bad Fantastic Four films didn’t have people up-in-arms over his performance as Captain America.

The reason people are so gung ho about hating Affleck is because Batman is the

“cool” hero to like right now, and all anyone knows is Bale. It’s hard not to sound like an elitist when saying this, but there are plenty of Batman “fans” out there who don’t even know who Thomas and Martha Wayne are, so are these really the people whose opinions should be taken seriously? We are all so comfortable with the Christian Bale Batman because his films with Christopher Nolan are what helped bring Batman back to the top, so maybe it’s time to shake things up a bit.

Casting Ben Affleck as Batman could mean some very important things for the Dark Knight. First of all, this most likely means that the Nolanverse Batman will be ignored, and that those films will be treated like an Elseworlds story. This means that the story does not affect or influence the main continuity of the character, and is accepted as taking place within it’s own, self-contained universe separate from the DC universe. For example, Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and Alex Ross & Mark Waid’s Kingdom Come. This is great because it means that we won’t hear Nolan whining about how they’re ruining his character, and we get a brand new take on Batman. Christopher Nolan’s Batman story is said and done, and should remain that way, and casting a brand new Batman hopefully means that they will respect this in Superman/Batman.

This also means that the foundations of the Justice League can finally be laid down, to prepare for that film, much like how Marvel was able to begin the groundwork for the Avengers with the first Iron Man movie. Iron Man ignored all previous Marvel films and marked the very beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as we know it today.

The second thing that is great about this reboot of the Batman character is that perhaps we can finally leave the realism to the real world, and make a true comic book film. People have begun to love the gritty, realistic superhero films, but that isn’t what the characters are really about. Christopher Nolan’s Batman could never exist in a world that also knows about Superman. It just wouldn’t make sense within the context of the Nolan films. Director Zack Snyder has stated that the film will draw influence from The Dark Knight Returns, in which Superman and Batman fight, plus it has been revealed that some alleged

titles are Superman vs Batman or Batman vs Superman (very creative choices). Christopher Nolan’s Batman is neither strong enough nor smart enough to take on Man of Steel’s Superman. He’d be utterly embarrassed. So maybe, with Affleck’s Batman, they’ll create a tougher, more intelligent Batman who actually stands a chance against the godlike power of Superman.

While this is all a matter of opinion, myself and many others are guilty of immediately looking at the casting of Ben Affleck in a negative way because he didn’t initially conjure up images of the Dark Knight we all know and love without really giving him a chance. While it may take some work, and some faith from the fans, Ben Affleck could become a bigger, better Batman than the hyper-realism brought to the character by Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan. Only time will tell.