For the past 12 hours the inter-webs have been a vast wasteland of nerds and geeks committing online Seppuku. In case you have been living in a Bat cave or under a Bat-rock(TM) it was recently revealed that Ben Affleck has been cast as Bruce Wayne/Batman in the upcoming untitled movie about Batman and Superman. This announcement has left quite a bit of people upset. One person on Twitter has threatened to come to Hollywood and punch Warner Bros in the face. Seriously what good would digging up the grave of Jack Warner and punching his corpse do? All you'll do is hurt your hand because people back then were made of sterner stuff and had iron for bones. It's why Clint Eastwood could be 100 years old and still look like he can kick your ass. Anyways here are my reasons on why I think Ben Affleck will make a good Batman.
Cast your minds back to 1988. It was a simpler time when kids played outside, gas was only .50 a gallon and you could board a plane without doing a macabre strip tease for some minimum wage rent-a-cop. It is in these pioneer days that nerds and geeks were hunted for sport. The only refuge for them was the local comic book shop. The comic book shop was to nerds what the barber shop was to black men...a place to congregate, be free and argue about something no one else gave a damn about.
One find day I ventured to my local comic book shop and was handed a clipboard with a petition on it. A man told me it was a petition to stop the new Batman movie. "They cast Michael Keaton as Batman. He's a comedian and was in Mr. Mom and Johnny Dangerously. How dare they cast him as Batman. Instead of making a dark Batman they were going to turn it into a 80's version of the 66 TV show. They even cast Jack Nicholson as Joker. That guy can't play crazy."
I took a long drag from the candy cigarette in my mouth.
"Let's see what he can do before we condemn him." I said.
The rest as we say is history. Keaton and Nicholson wowed and proved that one should never judge and actor based on past work.
Flash forward to 2007. Heath Ledger is cast as Joker in the follow up to the popular Batman Begins. Fans are in an uproar....yes they were. Brokeback Batman they said. This guy was in 10 Things I Hate About You and The Patriot. He'd never be able to be the Joker.
I once again took a drag from the same candy cigarette.
"Let's see what he can do before we condemn him."
The rest is history as he won an Oscar for the role and started an awful trend in which geeks thing geek movies can win Oscars. No Avengers should not have been nominated for Best Picture.
So why not Ben Affleck...
He was in Daredevil:
True he was in Daredevil. However he was the least of that film's problems. The biggest being the script and the director. Daredevil had/has a tonal problem. It tries to be grim and gritty until the fight scene in the playground. It shifts into a light superhero romance then shifts back into grim and gritty. One of the other problems is way too many characters. They put everything but the kitchen sink in it. It's as if they tried to shove 50 years of Daredevil in one movie.
Oh but I see you are shaking your head. Actors can only be in one comic book movie you say. Well if that is the case lets look at some awesome performances if that were true.
Don Cheadle couldn't be in Iron Man 2 and 3 because he was already in Meteor Man.
Chris Evans couldn't be Captain America because he was the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movies.
We'd lose Nick Fury himself since Samuel L Jackson was in The Spirit with Avengers co star Scarlett Johansson.
Ron Perlman couldn't be Hellboy because he was in Blade II.
Natalie Portman couldn't be in Thor because she was in V for Vendetta with Captain America villain Hugo Weaving.
Liam Neeson couldn't teach Batman how to be a ninja because of Darkman.
Ian McKellan could not be Magneto because of his role in The Shadow.
James McAvoy could not play a young Xavier in X-Men:First Class because of Wanted.
Tommy Lee Jones couldn't play Colonel Phillips because he played Two-Face in Batman Forever.
and last but not least Michael Fassbender wouldn't be able to play a young Magneto because of his role in 300.
He's a crappy actor:
Seriously. He has been nominated for a Golden Globe several times for his acting in movies such as Good Will Hunting, Shakespeare in Love, Hollywoodland, The Town and Argo. So obviously to the people who judge such things he can act. Let's be honest...Batman is not that hard of a stretch to play. there are only two modes....night avenging orphan or billionaire playboy. Are we saying that he can't play a playboy??? Or are we saying he can't play a man haunted by his past, full of darkness but struggling to do what is right...pretty much his role in The Town.
He's not built enough:
OMG you guys are really gonna be this nitpick? Zack Snyder is the director of 300. Gerard Butler had to go through an intense workout for 4 months before he had the Leonidas look. His workout regiment was so universally praised that it became a workout craze. Henry Cavill went through a similar 5 month regiment to look like the Man of Steel. Reports are in that Affleck has already started his workout regiment that includes working out for two hours a day.
Let's be honest: You were gonna bitch at any one in the role not named Christian Bale.
Now for the good.
Ben Affleck has sworn off superhero movies since his role in Daredevil. Something must have changed his mind and I don't think it was the money. Affleck is mentored by George Clooney, a man who knows a thing or two about destroying Batman, snapping the necks of dreams and putting a pillow over the face of our innocence. I doubt he'd let him take the role unless something else sweetened the pot. Perhaps that sweetening of pot comes in the form of Ben directing the next batch of Batman films or even Justice League, as he was rumored to a few months ago. Ben directing these films gives WB an edge over Marvel...they have a legitimate good director. Yeah I said it. He's a better director than Joss Whedon. When Whedon wasn't nominated for Best Director Hollywood didn't throw a collective shit storm. They did over Ben Affleck...and he has the trinkets and awards to prove it.
When all is said and done there is more to be happy about than upset. Affleck's career is on an upswing and he knows more than most what a misstep this could be. As ever I will remain optimistic about this movie because:
HE WAS THE BOMB IN PHANTOMS, YO!!!!!!
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