What a bit of news to learn while enjoying myself in the Cornetto Trilogy marathon. Seeing the rapid-fire posts on twitter made me stop dead in my tracks, question if this was a prank. But Warner Bros has made it official and suddenly in the middle of an intermission I realized that Ben Affleck is indeed the new Batman. Woah.
Affleck will star as the latest version of Bruce Wayne in the Man Of Steel sequel, that will put Batman and Superman together for the first time ever in a film. It was well known that Warner Bros. were hunting for older actor to play Batman in this new incarnation of the character, so Affleck does fit the bill. But we all know what happened the last time Affleck took on a major superhero role (Daredevil), and it wasn’t too pretty. So naturally, people are skeptical of this decision.
In the official announcement, director Zack Snyder said the following about Affleck:
“Ben provides an interesting counter-balance to Henry’s Superman. He has the acting chops to create a layered portrayal of a man who is older and wiser than Clark Kent and bears the scars of a seasoned crime fighter, but retain the charm that the world sees in billionaire Bruce Wayne. I can’t wait to work with him.”
With Affleck’s recent emergence as a talented director, I am very surprised with his involvement, but who can blame him for taking up the offer. It’s definitely not a popular choice, but it’s an interesting one. I’m intrigued by this decision and am excited to see what happens with it. He has some big shoes to fill coming after Christian Bale, but something tells me Affleck will find a way to pull this off.
The tentative titled for the sequel is Batman Vs. Superman. It’s scheduled release date is July 17, 2015. Until then..
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