Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Superman Related Batman Cast for "Man of Steel" Sequel

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/ben-affleck-batman-man-of-steel_n_3801418.html

It's being reported that Ben Affleck will play Batman.

Yup, just heard this. I think it's about time for someone to go down and do something to just put a stop to this movie altogether. Good God.

Then again, I suppose he fits the look, and he's recently done some good work (though not for his acting! Dumbies...) but still. I want to pout about this for a long time before finally coming to terms with it. Plus I think they'll have a problem with recognizing him-- he's not the strongest actor-- most people are going to look at him and say, "Oh look, it's Ben Affleck pretending to be Batman," not "Oh look, it's Batman-- hey can you believe Ben Affleck did that part?" Characters are more important than the actors that play them.... (IMHO)

Of course, I was really upset about MoS when they started making big announcements too, so maybe I'll be surprised. So far, this is shaping up to be far worse though.

I can't understand this decision, either from DC's standpoint (or Snyder, the director) or Ben Afflack. It doesn't make any sense, but then I couldn't see jokester Michael Keaton as Batman either and I loved his Batman (of course, all I knew of Batman when his movie came out was Adam West and Super Friends). Perhaps Afflack is determined to show he acting chops... cause he'll need to pull them out to play this part because it goes against his usual role.

Although, what confuses me is the decision to cast The Daredevil as Batman. Um... Hasn't he already done a spandex role? My guess is that someone at WB wanted a big boxoffice name. When will directors learn that listening to production notes from corporate bigwigs is a great way to tank a movie? It isn't a great way to save money either. The only thing casting Afflack as Batman shows is that it truly will be a Superman film, because big names are only good for supporting roles in Superman films. I don't see at 41 his staying power in the role for the next 10 years.

Don't get me wrong, I love Ben Afflack as an actor and director. I just can't picture him saying the iconic phrase "I'm Batman" without cracking up. (Him cracking up, that is.) Then holding up his hand and saying, "No, wait. I've got this. *I'm* Batman" -- more giggles. "I can do this." He clears his throat. In a deeper tone, "I'm Batman". Bends over, laughing now. See, sorry, I just can't picture Ben Afflack as Batman. He's too happy a guy. Where's the angst? The darkness? I only hope he can prove me wrong.

The last DC stole sloppy seconds from Marvel, I believe it ended up looking somewhat like this...



Just saying.

^^Also, I second everything Virginia just said up there. I hope the decision works out for the best, he's got a good sense for story and has done some great directing, I just don't see him as Batman.

Originally posted by VirginiaR:
Oh, they're not worried too much about money, I'm sure. DC is really the only thing WB's got going for them right now. They're going to put all their eggs into this basket, then throw said basket off the top of a skyscraper and pray that it flies so they can actually make a Justice League film....

But kudos to them for at least having a plan! Somewhat....

Thanks, Mouse. Great minds think alike, I was just editing my former post to add...

I lay the blame squarely on DC's shoulders. They rushed to greenlight this film without doing their due diligence (or even having a finalized script), let alone an idea for the Batman casting yet. They wanted something big to announce to counter Marvel's big Avengers two or Thor 2 or was it Captain America 2 preview and now they're acting as if they're playing catch-up to their own stupid announcement idea. :rolleyes: Clearly, there isn't anyone over at Warner or DC Films who remember Superman 3 or Batman & Robin.

Also, your image didn't show.

Haha, I just edited my post at the same time....

Here's the image link The pic worked for me though

Yeah. Sometimes I feel like DC's the little brother fighting for attention. Marvel says "We're going to make a few superhero movies so we can make the Avengers!" and then DC chimes in with "Oh yeah? Well, we're making movies too! We're making a Superman movie! Oh! No, a Justice League movie! No wait! We're making a Superman and Batman movie in one! NO! WE'RE GONNA TRY TO DESTROY METROPOLIS AND THE WORLD IN THE FIRST MOVIE AND RUN OUT OF IDEAS BEFORE WE START THE NEXT! Ha! What do you think of that?"

Take your time, DC. We can wait a little bit. The trouble is they keep having to restart. They made the Batman movies that should have been apart of JL, but they did it too early because Superman Returns tanked and they couldn't go without a Superman, and then GL tanked and now they're back to square one without even Batman.

Mouse,

You're a different generation, so you never had to sit through the 1979 Captain America or the 1990 Captain America or the 1977 Spider-Man hoping that this time the show would be as cool as the comic. The only dim ray of hope was the Incredible Hulk and that was so toned down that you could swap scripts with Kung-Fu and never notice the difference.

Growing up, it was DC and DC only who had success at the box office. Then they lost their mojo. It's been a long trip but Marvel has finally found theirs. (Except for Daredevil and Elektra.) I really hope there is cross-pollination going on and DC leans how to sell good storylines so they can continue to make good movies this time around. I'm not as well versed in DC as Marvel but they have stories I'd love to see. And successes make it that much easier for the next project to make it.

I wish I was that generation for DC's sake. I loved the Superman films and Michael Keaton Batman films (though I know they're not all hits-- looking at you, Nuclearman). DC has always been my preferred superhero-company, though I'm not saying I don't love Marvel because I absolutely do. Maybe that's just the way this has to go-- one on top or the other, never both. I hope not, for DC's sake. It would be sad if my generation (and I already know of people like this) who are only "Marvel fans" because of the movies and think that DC heroes suck.

I'm still optimistic for this movie. I'm not the biggest fan of Ben Affleck, but I have enjoyed him in the movies of his that I have seen. I thought "Daredevil" was underrated, and his scenes in "Hollywoodland" were the best parts of the movie. I can't remember if I've seen him in any other movies, but the fact that I have enjoyed him in at least two movies makes me optimistic he'll do a good job as Batman.

There is some hope for us DC fans. Batman's most recent films have all made a lot of money, and "Man of Steel" performed well, too. They've also had some success on TV. "Smallville" ran for ten seasons, and "Arrow" is a pretty good show that will likely be around for a while. They definitely haven't been as successful as Marvel has been in recent years, but at least they have a few things going for them. Perhaps these few recent successes will lead to more projects.

One must realize that DC comics have very little to say about what Warner Brothers does to the movie franchises.

From what I've heard in the past. DC is wholly owned by Warner Brothers but as far as bookeeping goes it is its own entity and must make its own money. Warner Brothers pays DC for the license to use their characters (from one pocket to another), but then Warner's controls what happens from there on during the individual project.

DC folks might be given some 'advisory' roles or act as another superfluous producer, but make no mistake, they have little or nothing to say as to how the movie will be made or turn out.

Unfortunate, but true.

Tank (who has seen Affleck is a few good roles but doesn't see him as someone 'tough enough' or cerebral enough to be Batman)

Quite honestly I'm just shrugging and going "so?" I don't really have a prejudice against him being in the role as I have not seen him in Daredevil or the other movies people have been mentioning in terms of the negative. I can mentally see him in the role. What I'm more worried about is the script. Seriously.

Affleck is a good actor. But the darkness needed to play Batman might be out of his scope.

Than again, my generation thought Michael Keaton would make a terrible Batman.

Boy, were we wrong!

A big part of the reason Keaton did a good job as Batman was that he had Jack Nicholson's wonderful tongue-in-cheek portrayal of Joker to work against. If not for that, I doubt we'd think so highly of Keaton as Batman today.

My take on Daredevil was that the script and casting were inconsistent. Jennifer Garner as Electra? She had the face and the body to be the hot assassin, but she didn't have that defining dark streak necessary. Someone else should have had that role, someone who would have been out of character smiling and more natural snarling.

And Affleck was the same. Of course, the extended scene where they played Jackie Chan with each other in the playground was beyond silly. Why would Daredevil show off his abilities to someone he'd just met? And why would Electra, who was supposed to be trained as a master martial artist, let a blind lawyer with mad skills get inside her defenses so quickly? The whole relationship thing just burst out beyond the bounds of credulity.

As I said, the flaws were more with the script, the director, and the production staff than with the actors. They did the best they knew how with a flawed story, and the best character of all was the late Michael Duncan Clarke as The Kingpin.

Virginia, I laughed at your portrayal of Ben trying to do Batman's voice.

Totally funny. You should write humor pieces. Oh, wait...

Some background information on the road to Ben Affleck becoming Batman...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/why-ben-affleck-said-yes-613658

Thanks for the link. I remembered that Afflack was in one of Kevin Smith's films (Chasing Amy), but I had forgotten that a per-requesite for being in a Kevin Smith film is a love of comics (not really, but it might as well be, because all the actors in his early films seem to be so). So, at least he isn't going in blind (no pun intended) and knows what big shoes he has to fill.

I totally missed those Capt. America revamps and I'm old enough to remember. I hate my laptop. Always having to go back and retype what I just wrote because it highlighted and erased it or scrolled back three pages on the web. How does anyone complete anything with those things? They should be banned by the WGA for torturing writers./

Gee, thanks, Terry. I write humor? Uh, right, my story is *supposed* to be funny, isn't it? Does it count if you point at my characters and laugh?

LOIS:

Well, I got to run now... back home again and I've got to get to work on that next part... On my desktop...

Good luck to Ben!

You're welcome.

There's a lot of speculation that Ben Affleck may also be directing an eventual Justice League movie as well as appearing in cameo roles in other superhero movies along the way. I'd take those reports with a grain of salt for the time being, but I am pretty excited about where all of this may be heading. I'd like for nothing more than to see more DC heroes get their time in the spotlight. And, if Affleck does end up directing a Justice League movie, it has the potential to be really good given that his other attempts at directing have received a lot of praise from critics.

I have to admit I just care less about this than most people. I am not sure I have ever watched any film with Ben Afleck in it. I have never seen any film with Henry Cavil but "Man of Steel", and I don't think I have ever seen another film with Amy Adams either.

So I have no real reason to like or dislike Afleck. I think the people who are attacking him for films done 10 years ago, and ignoring "Argo", which from what I have read was a well received film where he is considered to have performed well, are over-reacting.

Plus, I guess, I figure they are actors. They play roles, so I don't think one should assume they will play the same role they did before. That seems to be what some of the anti-Afleck talk I have read elsewhere is driven by "he did such in such in the past, I can't accept him."

So I think this will work. Snyder made really good casting decisions for MOS, even if I still wish they would have let Jonathan live.

Except, I just remembered I did see most of "Shakespeare in Love" once while substitute teaching (I had to skip through some parts per the teachers instructions, he did not want to expose the 9th graders to some of it, and we didn't finish). Still, I am not really feeling strongly either way. I think Affleck will work, but I am open to lots of things.

I think a good Ben Affleck film I'd recommend for Superman fans is "Hollywoodland." In it, he plays George Reeves, TV's original Superman. If anybody has the urge to check out any of Ben Affleck's movies before 2015, I'd recommend starting there.

I was listening to a Kevin Smith interview last night on YouTube and HE thought that Ben Affleck would make a good Batman (actually, apparently, he liked him for Superman before Henry C. was cast). I won't link the interview here, because anyone who knows Kevin Smith, knows he doesn't speak in GFic language. Anyway, he says that he's known Ben Affleck for 15 years and that Ben is a huge Batman fan, so he isn't liable to do anything against character.

I really hope they do not add in Lana. She had such a minor role in MOS I have little fear of that. I mean, she was a much smaller character than even Jenny Jurwich.