Derrik J. Lang, The Associated Press
Published Thursday, August 22, 2013 10:24PM EDT
Last Updated Friday, August 23, 2013 6:31AM EDT
LOS ANGELES -- Ben Affleck will don Batman's cape and cowl.
Warner Bros. announced Thursday that the 41-year-old actor-director will star as a new incarnation of the Dark Knight in a film bringing Batman and Superman together.
The studio said Affleck will star opposite 30-year-old Henry Cavill, who will reprise his role as Superman from "Man of Steel." The movie will also feature "Man of Steel" stars Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White and Diane Lane as Martha Kent.
The big-screen DC Comics superhero mash-up was first revealed by director Zack Snyder at last month's Comic-Con International in San Diego.
Snyder, who will direct the sequel written by "Man of Steel" screenwriter David S. Goyer, said in a statement that Affleck will provide an "interesting counter-balance" to Cavill's Clark Kent.
"(Affleck) 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," said Snyder. "I can't wait to work with him."
Production on the as-yet-untitled film is expected to begin in 2014 for release July 17, 2015.
It won't be Affleck's first time in superhero garb. He played a blind Marvel crime fighter in 2003's "Daredevil" and portrayed 1950s Superman actor George Reeves in 2006's "Hollywoodland."
Affleck's "Argo," which he starred in and directed, won the Academy Award for best picture earlier this year.
Christian Bale most recently played Batman in director Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy.
Please let this be a joke!
Please let this be a joke!
Please let this be a joke!
Please let this be a joke!
Please let this be a joke!
Please let this be a joke!
Please let this be a joke!
Please let this be a joke!
Please let this be a joke!
PRETTY PLEEEEEEEAASE!
And the Batman movie franchise goes right back in the toilet.
My first response to the news was “Oh no”.
However, I am going to fall back on my usual thing of waiting to see how it turns out, because, come on, even if it’s terrible, it can’t be any worse than Batman and Robin, can it?
That was my first thought as well 🙁
I mean, he turned out to be a good director, but an actor? He’s got he charisma of a jellyfish and the acting skills of a teapot
Batman fans were not exactly thrilled with the prospects of Michael Keaton or Heath Ledger either.
I was totally on-board with Michael Keaton. Doubted Heath Ledger, but now… there will never be another Joker. Even then, Cesar Romero was my favorite.
Not particularly thrilled with Ben Affleck. It could have been worse *cough* Ryan Reynolds *cough*.
From the people that stole Superman’s underpants.
That means he’ll be Batman for at least three films… Holy Bats#1+, Batman!
I had no problem with Keaton because I trusted that Tim Burton would get it right. That being said, Warner Bros. did receive over 50,000 letters complaining about the casting of Keaton as Batman.
wait and see. he was the bomb in phantoms. and dogma he was excellent.
In the immortal words of Prof. Hubert J. Farnsworth: “I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.”
Okay, I will say this. I can actually picture Affleck playing Bruce Wayne. Not Batman. Not Bruce when he’s in his Batcave, brooding and planning. Just Bruce Wayne as the public persona, the kind of shallowish, high-society playboy. The problem is that given Ben Affleck’s acting range, I fear he will play it this way THROUGH THE ENTIRE MOVIE.
Actual quote, care of themarysue.com:
How this can be said with a straight face is beyond me.
I have no problem with him playing batman I liked him as Daredevil. I find people that complain about what Actor is playing who are only picky & have it that if it isn’t who they envision for the role it’s all wrong & will consider the movie a dud based on that only. Bad Writers are what ruins a show or movie. That & Fans upset at who was cast. I personally thought Ryan Reynolds was a bad choice for Hal Jordan because I felt he was a better fit for Kyle Rynar in the Green Lantern world but I still enjoyed the Green Lantern movie none the less. Just trying to be Rude but if people were less picky about who was in movies or how close the story line is to the source (All that matters to me is that keep the Origin story right) or if its CGI or not they would like a lot more movies & shows.
Ace: Speaking for myself, I had really no preference or idea for the new batman. In fact, I didn’t even care much.
But Afleck? I never liked him as an actor, although I liked some of his movies. But, while, for exemple, I liked paycheck, I kept thinking “If only they had taken another actor”.
I agree with myro that I can see him as playboy wayne, but that’s all.
What’s worse, IMO, is that he’s become a quite decent director, and that this means that, instead of spending his time producing quality movies, he’ll make bad acting. We have actors gallore, but good movies? Not so much.
I actually think he can do a good job with it. From what I’ve seen of his films, he can act and I think he can pull off bats. I am also an advocate of wait and see. Lets just wait and see how he does. He might just surprise us and be awesome.
At first I was the same, thinking you gotta be kidding me, but going over it. I did like him in Daredevil, hes got decent acting skills and for the people that say he sucks then you really should go back and re watch some of those movies.
He can play it pretty serious, I liked him in Pearl Harbour and that had its serious moments. And hes done so much growing as an actor.
Just keep an open mind and see what happens. C’mon, you want Justice Leauge dont you, then stop being picky.
OMG, here’s the first look at Ben Affleck as Batman…….
http://www.heromachine.com/wp-content/legacy/forum-image-uploads/ams/2013/08/First-look-at-Ben-as-Batman.PNG
na na na na na na na na na na na na ………..AFFLECK!
Just add this to the “What were they thinking file” it can go next to the Daredevil disaster. They are going to have to make the mask bigger for the guys goofy head.
You know this may end up being a win~win situation…
If Ben does well he may finally get over that Gigli mess, and
If he does poorly he may end up finished!
I Am rooting for it to fail-HARD!!
Why don’t we make Steven Segal the next Punisher, or Keanu Reeves the next Flash. Maybe David Hasselhoff could be the next Aquaman, or Eddie Murphy The Martian Man Hunter while were at it!
Batman Goes To Beantown…
I will say Ben’s got the skill. That being said, he needs a good director to control him when he goes wrong, a good budget to allow for his salary and the extra takes he’ll need, the proper mindset so that he doesn’t phone it in, a good editing and camera crew so that the rushes will tell him when he needs those extra takes–
–wait–isn’t that what every actor needs?
LOL–I guessed it correctly that Keaton Batman would be fine and that I wouldn’t like his Wayne. It would actually help some actors to be clinically depressed in the Batcave, on amphetamines while crimefighting, and taking Prozac in Wayne Manor with a minimum metabolic adjustment between.
What I WOULD like to see is an amicable arrangement reached by an actor when the actor starts out by saying: “I’d rather see ‘so-and-so’ do that role. Why isn’t he in it? Let me swap places with him for the movie schedule. I’ll wear bandages and grunt during the plotline of his show if I have to. Then when the plastic surgery on his character is over we’ll stall or something . . .”
i haven’t seen much of Affleck’s work, myself, so you can add me to the let’s-wait-and-see group. i spent most of my time leading up to Man of Steel cautiously optimistic that it would be awesome, but a little worried it’d go right back into Reruns territory. It didn’t disappoint, so i think Affleck could pull this off.
*Returns, not reruns. though that’s not a bad comparison either.
Why are we switching from Bale anyways?
Well, two obvious reasons.
1. Christian Bale has publicly declared that he has no interest in playing Batman a fourth time, and even though Warner Bros. tried to throw ridiculous amounts of money at him to see if they could change that opinion, he’s stood by it.
2. At the end of Dark Knight Rises, Bale’s Bruce Wayne is clearly no longer Batman. I won’t go into why, in case someone hasn’t seen it, but it would be very awkward to try to bring him back within the same continuity.
I tried to get through the last Batman several times but kept falling asleep, I thought it was kinda stupid and I don’t know if theres something mental about what happened in Colorado where I can’t enjoy it. There are certain Actors or actressess that would be good for a Super hero or villian part, they have a certain quality. There are some actors and actressess who should put the script down, walk away for two weeks and never come back LOL. I could see Liam Neeson being a Taskmaster or Deathstroke type. Karl Urban or Eric Bana would make a better Cylops. Ralph Fiennes as The Green Arrow. Jamie Bell as Super Boy. Hugh Laurie as Brainiac. I don’t know kid actors so I can’t say for someone like Shazam. Just some ideas. Who do you think would be good for a certain roll?
Ladies and gentlemen hold your applause the wonderful and amazing ProwlerKnight has returned…..-awkward silence- Ok well maybe I was little over the top lol
Anyways to the subject at hand:
Honestly I don’t blame Affleck for Daredevil, it wasn’t his fault really. I mean when Daredevil was released superhero movies were just starting up again (I mean the first X-men was a bit thrown together compared to the newer ones), so there was bound to be flaws in the concept, not to mention Affleck was only an Actor, not the Director. With the way Superhero movies have grown and developed over the years most of the kinks and flaws have been worked on, so who’s to say this is going to end up the same as Daredevil did?
Also Ben wasn’t my first choice for the Dark Knight either (I was rooting for Karl Urban lol), but like most people I’m gonna let this just happen and see how it turns out. If he does good then he will overcome that “daredevil” hump that stood in his way and move on to bigger things, and if it flops, then oh-well, not like it’s the end of Batman movies. lol
Liam Neeson as Deathstroke!!! Definitely XD
Well I know I am a little late on this topic but I am actually excited about this news.
In my opinion, out of all of the choices of actors Ben Affleck is the most similar looking to the comic version of Bruce Wayne. I think he is a good actor. There will always be people who hate these decisions but come on guys, bale was not the best choice either but he showed some great performances for the dark knight trilogy. Gotta give it a chance! You may be surprised!
Look at this comparison.
Bruce:
http://imageshack.us/a/img202/7673/2tzi.png
Ben:
http://imageshack.us/a/img196/7749/rpc7.jpg
This is disappointing.
Not because Ben Affleck will be Batman…he would be a good Bruce Wayne, and he’s come a long way since Daredevil flopped. Let him paahk the Baahtmobile in Haahvahd Yaahd if he wants.
I just expected a fully serialized Justice League build-up (Joseph Gordon Levitt returns? Affleck as a fake Batman? Plot twist??!!! PLEEASEEE??!!!) instead of unnecessarily rebooting something that has clearly been Nolan-ized into near cinematic perfection.
I too did a double-take when I heard the news, but at the same time I didn’t take to the internet with my digital pitchfork.
While I agree with some here that Affleck can probably pull off the Bruce Wayne persona (I keep picturing his J-Lo days), I’m holding my breath for Batman. Then again, wouldn’t the entire fanboy world in uproar encourage you to work your a$$ off to be the best out there and silence all the nay-sayers– it would me.
All in all I think we still don’t know what direction this new franchise is going or what type of Batman we’re to see. IMO, with all this leading up to a Justice League movie filled with super-powered/god-like heroes (and villains), I don’t think the “realistic” Nolan/Bale Batman will do (and Nolan has said this is a different universe). For anything to be successful (Affleck or not), I think this Batman will need to be the genius detective, gadget man, and calculated fighter that can hold his own as the lone non-superpowered human among whatever JL team forms. If not, he becomes Hawkeye or Black Widow in ‘Avengers’ or some insane caricature who can be thrown through a brick wall and shake it off like nothing happened.
I think they should take from the JL animated series and films (my JL comic knowledge is limited) where you have an untrusting Bats who knows the weaknesses of both his enemies and allies (just in case), and knows how to hang back and form a plan before smashing ahead blindly like the rest.