Ben Affleck as Batman?

DC Comics and Warner Bros made headlines at this year’s San Diego Comic Con when they announced that the sequel to ‘Man of Steel’, which is set to come out in 2015, will also feature Batman as well, taking inspiration from (but not directly adapting) Frank Miller’s acclaimed graphic novel ‘The Dark Knight Returns’. However, DC needed to find a new actor to play Batman after Christian Bale stepped down from the role following the completion of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight Trilogy’. So the search was on to find the next Batman. Names like Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, and Jon Hamm were thrown in the mix as potential candidates to play Batman and it was reported that Warner Bros was looking for an older actor to take on the role. Last Thursday, Warner Bros announced that they had found the next actor to play Batman. Their choice… Ben Affleck?

It’s kind of interesting that, in the end, Affleck was cast because in recent years, he’s been more known as a director. In fact, he was once approached to direct both ‘Man of Steel’ and ‘Justice League’ but now, instead of being behind the camera for a DC superhero film, he’ll be in front of the camera instead as the Caped Crusader. As you might have guessed, this news has received a rather mixed reception from audiences; some are okay with it and arguably most are against it. This is most likely because of Affleck’s previous work in a superhero film, 2003’s ‘Daredevil’, a film that didn’t fare well with either critics or audiences, with Affleck usually being one of the reasons why most hated it. As for me, I didn’t think that the film (not a great superhero film, but not the worst either) was entirely Affleck’s fault and that is why I am supportive of Warner Bros’ decision to have him play Batman.

I am a fan of Ben Affleck, mainly his recent work as a director on films like ‘Gone Baby Gone’, ‘The Town’, and ‘Argo’. But even though he’s been more known for his directing in recent years, he has improved as an actor as well. He’s done very good jobs in both ‘The Town’ and ‘Argo’ and that is because he doesn’t try to steal the show in those movies. He lets his supporting actors do that for him, like Jeremy Renner in ‘The Town’ and John Goodman and Alan Arkin in ‘Argo’. Was he the best choice for Batman? No, there are far better choices like Jon Hamm, Karl Urban, and Josh Brolin. But for the record, Affleck isn’t the worst choice either. Apparently, they were considering Tyler Posey from the new ‘Teen Wolf’ series and while I’ve never watched the show, something tells me that this would have turned out much worse had he been cast in the part.

I’m hopeful that Affleck will do well in the part because after all, there have been a few instances where a questionable casting choice in a superhero film turns out to do very well in the role. Back when Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker, not everyone was in support of this casting choice. But in the end, Ledger ended up stealing the show in ‘The Dark Knight’. There were some who were against the casting of Chris Evans as Captain America and look how that turned out. Heck, even a former Batman was in the same situation. When Michael Keaton was cast as Batman in Tim Burton’s first Batman film, there was a negative reaction to it because of Keaton’s previous work in comedies, namely 1983’s ‘Mr. Mom’. But in the end, Keaton is arguably still the best Batman since 1989. The bottom line is that pretty much any major casting in a superhero film is going to attract a mixed response and when you get down to it, it all just depends on the actor/actress’ performance in the film and the ‘Batman/Superman’ film won’t be coming out until 2015. Just reserve your judgment until you see the film.