Joss Whedon Defends Ben Affleck as Batman

[RJ Dalton]

I still don't buy it. Ben Afleck never struck me as a good actor in anything I saw him in. He turned out to be a surprisingly good director, but his acting style has always been off. And not an entertaining kind of off, like Christopher Walken.

And Joss Whedon has no cred with me. His recommendation sways me not at all.

 

[roguewriter]

The issue here is simple: This film is something fans have been dreaming of since forever. Now we have it and we just want to feel confident in how it's being handled and built. And that's the thing; we don't. At least not a fairly significant percentage.

There were many actors in Hollywood of both film and television that would have instilled confidence for the role and film. Affleck simply isn't one of them. And Hollywood "names" and friends coming to his defense means little.

Of course they are going to defend him, especially folks like Joss and Patton who have taken a ton of shit from the geek fanbase; they defend him on principle. Like the writers and game makers who defended BioWare after Mass Effect 3's 'Fuck You' ending debacle despite all evidence that there wasn't anything "artistic" about it.

 

[Lunar Templar]

People had doubts when Heath Ledger was cast as Joker.

People also had doubts when George Clooney was cast as Batman too, look how that turned out. We can see how well Ben Affleck handled a superhero movie already... look how that turned out too.

or ... maybe Dare Devil was just written and directed poorly? seriously, we need to get over Dare Devil, Afflect isn't a bad actor

 

[TwistedEllipses]

People had doubts when Heath Ledger was cast as Joker.

People also had doubts when George Clooney was cast as Batman too, look how that turned out. We can see how well Ben Affleck handled a superhero movie already... look how that turned out too.

or ... maybe Dare Devil was just written and directed poorly? seriously, we need to get over Dare Devil, Afflect isn't a bad actor

Maybe, but a good actor can stand out in a bad film. No-one seems to be saying he was great in that film, only that he was okay at best. To me, it seems an odd choice considering there are more consistently good actors.

Personally, I would have preferred a less known name. That way Superman's & Batman's actors would be on a more equal footing and it would be easier for an audience to see the character rather than the actor.

 

[J Tyran]

People had doubts when Heath Ledger was cast as Joker.

People also had doubts when George Clooney was cast as Batman too, look how that turned out. We can see how well Ben Affleck handled a superhero movie already... look how that turned out too.

or ... maybe Dare Devil was just written and directed poorly? seriously, we need to get over Dare Devil, Afflect isn't a bad actor

Ben Affleck was terrible in a terrible film, like this scene for example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NW0Rv2H1Pug#t=119


Yes he will really make a good Batman...

 

[Lunar Templar]

People had doubts when Heath Ledger was cast as Joker.

People also had doubts when George Clooney was cast as Batman too, look how that turned out. We can see how well Ben Affleck handled a superhero movie already... look how that turned out too.

or ... maybe Dare Devil was just written and directed poorly? seriously, we need to get over Dare Devil, Afflect isn't a bad actor

Ben Affleck was terrible in a terrible film, like this scene for example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NW0Rv2H1Pug#t=119


Yes he will really make a good Batman...

riiight ... and Dare Devil was how long ago now?

This is why I say we need to move on, Dare Devil is 10 years old, Ben has been in better movies and won awards for those roles, Argo being his most recent. Granted I know telling the 'nerd culture' to 'get over it and move on' is like trying to stop the fucking tides from coming in by yelling it them, but yeah, really is time to move on.

 

[J Tyran]

People had doubts when Heath Ledger was cast as Joker.

People also had doubts when George Clooney was cast as Batman too, look how that turned out. We can see how well Ben Affleck handled a superhero movie already... look how that turned out too.

or ... maybe Dare Devil was just written and directed poorly? seriously, we need to get over Dare Devil, Afflect isn't a bad actor

Ben Affleck was terrible in a terrible film, like this scene for example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NW0Rv2H1Pug#t=119


Yes he will really make a good Batman...

riiight ... and Dare Devil was how long ago now?

This is why I say we need to move on, Dare Devil is 10 years old, Ben has been in better movies and won awards for those roles, Argo being his most recent. Granted I know telling the 'nerd culture' to 'get over it and move on' is like trying to stop the fucking tides from coming in by yelling it them, but yeah, really is time to move on.

Whats your excuse for the more recent films then? Telling people how it is happens to be a lot more like telling the tides to stop.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Whats your excuse for the more recent films then? Telling people how it is happens to be a lot more like telling the tides to stop.

*shrugs*

If he's been in shit recently, fine, let him be judged by that, not saying he hasn't been in shit recently. But to continue to bring up a movie a decade old as the worst thing he's done and he's done nothing good or incapable of delivering a decent performance is very petty.

But, take my defending the choice of Ben with a grain of salt, cause while I do in fact like Batman (though Wolverine more so) I am rather tired of seeing him, and the fact Batman is even IN the next Super Man movie kinda smacks of desperation, in that 'it didn't work!! throw Batman at it, that'll fix it' way.

 

[Li Mu]

Well, if Joss Whedon supports Affleck you can expect Movie Bob to do a complete 180 and start kissing Afleck's ass too.

 

[Strazdas]

well he said he will crush it. i always considered crushing a synonim to destruction, which is a bad thing. so yes, Joss is right, he will ruin the batman. And yes, we should support him, maybe after this new batman failure they will finally stop making batman and go on to explore different chracters. there is so much batman out there nwo that its oversaturated.

I believe in this case "crushing" was referencing hitting a home run in Baseball, which is probably more of a strictly american idiom.

not being american myself, i never heard that one used by anyone. But i guess it is possible usage. americans like to use words backwards.

 

[Vrach]

People had doubts when Heath Ledger was cast as Joker.

People also had doubts when George Clooney was cast as Batman too, look how that turned out. We can see how well Ben Affleck handled a superhero movie already... look how that turned out too.

^This. Heath is not an excuse to toss around whenever a seemingly inappropriate actor is cast.

Personally, I didn't like Man of Steel much, it was one of the more forgettable movies I've seen. I'd give it a 7/10 with the comment that I do enjoy superhero movies in general. So I doubt they even have a good movie lined up and I think casting Ben is both bringing in a big name for Batman while also cashing in on the whole "you didn't expect Heath to be good either, did you?" thing. Do you really expect we'll be surprised twice in the same franchise in such a short time span by a weird actor for the role doing amazingly well? Think about the odds of that happening alone, then consider that unlike Nolan's movies, Man of Steel is nothing special to say the least.

Note that I'm not saying Affleck is a bad actor. He's not. But I very much doubt he'll be a good Batman, same way Clooney wasn't, because the role doesn't suit him.

edit: Oh and this:

and the fact Batman is even IN the next Super Man movie kinda smacks of desperation, in that 'it didn't work!! throw Batman at it, that'll fix it' way.

 

[JarinArenos]

OT: Is it wrong that i suspect Whedon only supports this because he hopes it'll bomb really badly and thus crush DC's hopes of extending this series into a Justice League movie?

That is a horrible and cynical suspicion, and you are a terrible person for suggesting it. ... I love it.

Eh, honestly... I'm not expecting much, but I doubt it'll be horrible. I suspect it'll run nice and "safe" with the script, playing for the broadest-base appeal. DC has decided that "dark" and "edgy" are cool now (welcome to the 90s, people), and it'll be more in that vein, I suspect; like Dark Knight and Man of Steel. Meanwhile, the Marvel franchise movies (well, the disney/marvel produced ones, anyway) will keep being fun and actually - y'know - heroic.

(Disclaimer: I don't care about Marvel/DC favoritism at all, I just didn't like the Nolan Batman or Man of Steel very much)

 

[FoolKiller]

Affleck will nail it seeing as Bruce Wayne is the actual character. Batman is just a costume.

I wouldn't necessarily agree on that. I loved Bale as Bruce but couldn't handle his overplayed Batman.

 

[Darth_Payn]

I have no problem with Ben as Batman. It's good that Whedon supports this; this will motivate both of them to work their butts off to make the best movies they can. The bigger questions are what's the movie's official title and who's writing the script. If anything, the whole thing can't be Batman vs. Superman. Sure they can start not agreeing how to do things, but of course there has to be a villain who can make those two work together.