As most of you have heard by now, Ben Affleck has been confirmed as Batman in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel, and not a lot of people are happy about it. There was even a White House petition requesting that it be made illegal for Ben Affleck to play Batman.
Since this has become an overnight issue, we are going to make this the first in our 4LN Discussion series. In a 4LN Discussion we will have two or more of our writers write standalone arguments for a particular issue. Today, Cody will be writing why Ben Affleck is a horrible choice, and I will be writing a pro-Affleck argument. Here goes:
Cam:
Judging from my Facebook feed, and the explosion of the Twittersphere, I can only assume that those of us that are actually comfortable with Ben Affleck as Batman are few and far between. We are like survivors of some post-apocalyptic tale, in which droves of leather-clad gangs roam the streets in their armored pick-up trucks hunting for stragglers to eat i.e. the Road, or Mad Max.
Affleck does come with some superhero baggage. He played Matt Murdock, a.k.a. the pudgy-cheeked, Daredevil, in one of the worst superhero movies of the modern era. I absolutely hated that movie, and I never even saw Elektra, which I assume was just as terrible. Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck are pretty much the power-couple of awful superhero movies. And let us not forget Gigli, which is frequently cited as one of the worst films ever made.
However, the Affleck of today is on a completely different level than the Affleck of the past. I don’t know how much time he spent killing lower level creatures and running side-quests after that slew of awful movies, but he leveled up big-time. Over the last decade he has starred in (and directed) some amazing movies. The Town? Great. Argo? That movie is considered one of the best movies of 2012.
I have seen several people say they would rather have George Clooney over Ben Affleck. I am not sure what nostalgia pills they are taking, but up until the news broke yesterday people spent half their time wishing the Schumacher era (which I will now refer to as the Dark Times) never existed, and the other half of their time wondering why Bruce Wayne adopted a 28 year old acrobat.
There are several flaws with equating Affleck as Batman with a return to the Dark Times. First of all, Zach Snyder is on a completely different level than Schumacher. With Snyder, we aren’t going to be subjected to an Austrian Mr. Freeze with a penchant for stupid quips (“Ice to meet you!”), nor will we be subjected to Bat-Ice Skates. We don’t have to worry about Batsuit nipples; we don’t have to worry about neon-laden gangs, or a mentally-handicapped Bane. Do people even remember how awful the Dark Time films were?!
Secondly, Affleck is slowly becoming a master craftsman when it comes to acting. He is dedicated to his craft, and I have no doubt that he can put on the suit and become Batman. My only worry was his ability to pull-off Bruce Wayne, but with the story appearing to call for an older, wiser, Batman, Affleck won’t have to become a billionaire playboy, as much as he would a business savvy CEO. If you’ve read Alex Ross’ World Finest, you’ve seen Bruce Wayne as the socially conscious, business owner, and Affleck would be at ease in that role.
Overall, I don’t think Ben Affleck is all that bad. Could they have found someone better? Perhaps, but they also could have found somebody unbelievably worse. I absolutely loved Christian Bale as Batman, but we have to face the facts – he isn’t coming back. Worst-case scenario I see him being a slightly underwhelming, but decent, Batman. However, judging by his recent work, I have no problem with the idea that he could dominate that role.
Cody:
WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING CAM!? Look I know that the Dark Times were dark, and I don’t really put this on the same playing field, but it’s just a matter of Christian Bale owned the role of The Dark Knight. Owned it. I swear he has a deed to the character in a vault somewhere. The reason why social media is blowing up is because everyone knows you’re not really going to get a better Batman. You’re just not. Another reason I hate this decision is because Affleck is similar to Ryan Reynolds. No matter how you dress him up, he’s not really going to be cool in the role. I mean this is Keanu Reeves bad. Now Ben Affleck is a much better actor then Keanu, but do we really want the guy from JERSEY GIRL as Batman!!?? Here’s the other thing, when you look at the line of Marvel movies and how they are all somewhat cohesive with each other, part of what makes that successful is having the same cast throughout. So this interpretation of Batman will be the same one for the Justice League, which if it’s as Bostonian as I imagine it could be will be horrible. For some reason I envision Affleck needing to put the Boston Redsox’s B on the front of his suit as well. Which brings me to this script I wrote, with Affleck as Batman:
Scene:34 (Scene opens to a smoky low lit room and a gang of thugs playing cards)
(Door crashes open. Batman enters breathing deeply)
Batman: Where’s da jokah!?
Thugs: Huh? I don’t know nothing!
Batman: Get outta heeya before I’s calls da cawps! Or I might have my boy wondah Rawbin hit ya wit da flim flam!
Don’t you see how terrible this is going to be!? Boston Batman. Terrible Decision
So what do you think? Is this the worst casting decision in the history of cinema? Does Affleck have the ability to pull this off? Will this movie make you wish you hadn’t gotten the Bat-symbol tattooed to your left calf? Sound off, nerds.