Ben Affleck will be the next Batman. That’s right, the man that dazzled as the Fashionable Male employee in Mallrats, received critical acclaim for his writing in Good Will Hunting, fizzled in Gigli, fizzled some more in Jersey Girl, pulled a career 180 with The Town, and cemented his turnaround with Argo will be donning the Batman tights in 2015. Here’s a quote on the casting from Warner Bros. president Greg Silverman (via Variety):
We knew we needed an extraordinary actor to take on one of DC Comics’ most enduringly popular Super Heroes, and Ben Affleck certainly fits that bill, and then some.
Affleck is no stranger to superhero movies, having starred in Daredevil. However, that movie doesn’t help his case. While Daredevil had several solid performances, Affleck’s wasn’t one of them. There where many scenes where I couldn’t tell if he was acting like a blind man or acting like a mentally-handicapped man. Charming performances by Colin Farrell and Michael Clarke Duncan, as well as Jennifer Garner’s sai-wielding hotness, couldn’t compensate for Affleck’s wretched performance as the titular hero.
I’m still not sure how I feel about this. Initially, I was stunned by the news. Several moments later, I still don’t know what to make of it. While I’ve enjoyed Affleck’s work in Kevin Smith’s movies and admire his recent films, I still think of him as a hunky doofus. Like most comic-book fans, “hunky doofus” isn’t what comes to mind when I think Batman. I have no doubt that Affleck could ace the role of Bruce Wayne, but I fear his Batman moments will result in numerous scenes that are unintentionally funny.
What do you think of Ben Affleck playing Batman? Kindly vote in today’s poll and expand on your choice in the comments section.
[poll id=”186″]
He’s not a bad choice. Not my first either. I would have liked Peter Weller. Ha!
Also Elektra sucks and the sai has to be the most dumbass weapon ever. Raphael was the worst ninja turtle.
Sais are actually pretty interesting weapons because of their offensive and defensive capabilities. The ones with two guards curving upwards were designed to catch incoming swords. Another variation has one guard curving upward and another curving downward. The lower guard could be used to block or punch as you would with a fist.
Still a crap weapon.
I’ll have to reserve my judgment. Initially, I was like “holy shit.” But then, it really doesn’t mean anything until I can hear him. Yes, hear. I thought Christian Bale was a horrible Batman. Well, not “horrible,” but certainly not good. The lisp, the bat rasp, the voice, the childish demeanor when he was Bruce Wayne. It sucked. I was able to overlook most of those flaws because the screenplay, supporting characters, and story are so good (overall) in Nolan’s series.
To make a good Batman, you have to have someone that can pull off what Kevin Conroy seems to do so easily. They have to alter their voice as Batman so he doesn’t sound like Bruce when he puts on the cowl, but not have it seem (or sound) ridiculous in doing so. To me, it’s part of the disguise, and a very important part at that.
Also, I think I felt the opposite of you on the Daredevil movie. I didn’t think Affleck was THAT bad as people made it out. Sure, he wasn’t great, but think the people around him like Bullseye, Elektra, Kingpin, etc. were a lot worse. By comparison, they made Ben’s performance look better. My biggest problem with that movie was the writing/script/screenplay. It was pretty crappy to the point that I don’t think ANY actor or actress could have done well with the material they are presented with.
-M