Joss Whedon Defends Ben Affleck as Batman

[toomuchnothing]

I'll still never understand why people are more worried about Ben Affleck screwing the movie over when Zack Synder is still directing. The guy who won last years best director Oscar is being directed by the guy who made Sucker Punch think about that for a minute. The best people can hope for is that Zach directs all the action/visual setpieces where as Ben secretly directs the rest.

 

[Full]

Did anyone else read the headline as meaning Joss Whedon, in a Batman costume, was defending Ben Affleck from criminals? Nope? Just me?

ok

Now I'm sad I didn't, if it makes you feel better.

 

[The Hungry Samurai]

I wonder how many of us dinosaurs thought that it was freaking bonkers when Michael "Mr Mom" Keaton got to don the cape and cowl back in 89. Ben Affleck has the acting chops, and the look. It's up to the writer/director not to screw this up now.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Eh, I'll wait and see. I'll admit that Affleck wouldn't have been my first choice, but you never know, he might well "knock it out of the park" as the Americans say. He could also be absolute arse, but we won't know until the movie is out.

 

[Scribblesense]

I wonder how much of Ledger's Joker was the actor and how much was the director. Nolan knows how to get some amazing performances out of his actors (even Bane had his moments) and I don't have any such faith in Snyder. Yes, I know Nolan is producing, but he won't be involved in the day to day filming; Steven Spielberg produced the Transformers movies, for example.

Affleck is a great actor and a great director, and I'm afraid that's going to be this film's downfall. Affleck's ego will get in the way if he doesn't fully conform to Snyder's vision and we'll have the director shooting for one Batman and the actor playing another. I'm not saying Affleck has a big head, I'm saying he probably knows better than Snyder and will act on his feelings.

And personally, the casting of Affleck rubs me the wrong way because it feels like a Hollywood decision, not made for the good of the film or to the delight of the fanbase. It's not as daring a choice as Robert Downey Jr, Heath Ledger, or even Chris Hemsworth - it's a carefully calculated choice weighing who will put the most asses in seats. Affleck has appeal, but not to the fanboy. He's there to make the film respectable.

This won't be a film for Batman fans, it's going to be Oscar bait wearing a vaguely bat-shaped costume. Whether that's good or bad is up to you, I suppose. I don't see it as a good thing.

 

[Milanezi]

See, I didn't like it when they cast Ledger as The Joker, but I wasn't too worried because, hell, Ledger had made some movies I DID enjoy to some extent.

In every movie Ben Affleck has ever stared, the few I enjoyed (right now only Dogma comes to mind), he wasn't really the character that gave the movie a SOUL. Even in Argo, I always criticize that the movie movie was praised for the wrong reasons, everybody loved it because of the events and the events were a merit of HISTORY, not Affleck's acting or anything movie-related (a good movie, don't get me wrong, but ordinary).

Anyway, I look at Affleck and I see the sort of schmuck that hits on your girlfriend in a party, then, after causing some trouble, moves to the next girl and, being such a pain, the bouncer has to kick him off the place. He's always wearing the same expression on his face that reads "I NEED to look serious, otherwise I'll look like a freshman and no one will take me seriously! See, here I'm serious and I'm ALWAYS worried about something". Oh, and he already played Batman, I mean, Marvel's version of him, as in "dark-on-the-edge-of-good-and-evil vigilante", Daredevil, so we all now how serious he can take a taciturn superhero role, yeah...

I'm not a big fan of Bayle either, but he had the "Wayne vibe", fuck, even CLOONEY had that vibe (the movie, sadly, lacked everything else to merit it as a movie per se).

Ps: I hope I'm VERY wrong, at least I'm "under hyped" meaning it'll be easier to enjoy the movie lol

 

[Casual Shinji]

Yeah, no, sorry, but Ben Affleck has the captivating acting chops of a meatloaf.

I know people like to bring in the Heath Ledger comparison, but Affleck has had a long track record of being painfully mediocre. The only movie were he's even remotely interesting to watch is in Dazed and Confused as the paddle bully. The only reason he still even has a career is because he's apparently a decent director. Because if he had to make it on his acting he would've been long forgotten.

Not that I mind him playing Batman, since the idea of a live-action Batman/Superman crossover movie already feels like a desperate attempt that will crash and burn.

 

[NeedsaBetterName22]

In every movie Ben Affleck has ever stared, the few I enjoyed (right now only Dogma comes to mind), he wasn't really the character that gave the movie a SOUL. Even in Argo, I always criticize that the movie movie was praised for the wrong reasons, everybody loved it because of the events and the events were a merit of HISTORY, not Affleck's acting or anything movie-related (a good movie, don't get me wrong, but ordinary).

I wouldn't even praise Argo as a historical piece. One of the big controversies surrounding Argo is that they did the typical 'American thing' and converted a historical event into propaganda. The movie largely ignores the efforts of Canadians (they, for example, were the ones who created the fake passports in reality) and the British in favour of the good ol' 'AMERICA, FUCK YEAH." In fact, there's one scene that got A LOT of complaints from Canadians (when the Canadian diplomat says they're closing the embassy down, which is a massive insult to the actual people who smuggled the hostages out).

Hell, Ken Taylor, one of the major players in the actual events, called him out on it. [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/awards-and-festivals/film-awards/ken-taylor-sets-the-record-straight-about-argos-take-on-the-canadian-caper/article9044112/]

 

[VoidWanderer]

People had doubts when Heath Ledger was cast as Joker.

I'm inclined to trust the casting, even as I doubt the wisdom of remaking the franchise so soon.

Either the folks making this have a good, solid vision of where the want to take it, in which case they probably have a much better idea of how Affleck will fit than I do. Or else this is just a rushed cash grab attempt to jumpstart the failing DC movie franchise, in which case casting will wind up the least of its flaws.

If I had to put money on it, I'd be betting on "cash grab", but why not give them the benefit of the doubt until reviews come in?

You took the words out of my mouth. Can I have them back please?

In all seriousness, I think Ben can pull it of. It's the script that concerns me.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I'll be happy just as long there are no Batnipples.

 

[Quellist]

Not to fussed about Ben as Batman, im more concerned how crap this movie will be. Batman can never beat Superman. Ever. Not in the real world that these heroes are set in. An i will walk out the cinema if they play the krytonite card again. Sick of that. Thing is even if Bats has a ring or gloves or whatever with kryptonite, Superman can just fly out of his reach and burn/freeze him from a distance. The whole idea of this movie is stupid, though the idea of them teaming up it good. An yes i know their was a comic where bats beat superman......but im sure there is a comic where Pee Wee Herman beat the Hulk.

Never read The Dark Knight Returns? they made a pretty good case for Batman taking on Superman in that.

 

[vid87]

As bizarre and fun as the reveal/speculation for all this is, I keep having to remind myself he was once the front-running choice to direct Justice League. This could very well have less to do with "He's the right guy for the role," and more about "We at WBs aren't doing wonderfully well with DC so let's keep the [recent Oscar winning] high-profile actor/rising-star director in our corner to boost our credibility because God knows we need it" stunt casting.

 

[Fox12]

I actually like Ben. That said, who thought it was a good idea to cast him as an actor instead of a director? Ben as an actor is alright, Ben as a director is fantastic.

 

[nathan-dts]

Not to fussed about Ben as Batman, im more concerned how crap this movie will be. Batman can never beat Superman. Ever. Not in the real world that these heroes are set in. An i will walk out the cinema if they play the krytonite card again. Sick of that. Thing is even if Bats has a ring or gloves or whatever with kryptonite, Superman can just fly out of his reach and burn/freeze him from a distance. The whole idea of this movie is stupid, though the idea of them teaming up it good. An yes i know their was a comic where bats beat superman......but im sure there is a comic where Pee Wee Herman beat the Hulk.

Superman/Batman are comics were they work together. The film will be, too. They won't be fighting each other.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

He's not the actor we want, he's the actor we deserve.

 

[Rylingo]

in the words of Superman, "...the most dangerous man on the planet"? Think for a second and admit that Ben Affleck is closer to THAT top-shelf iteration of The Dark Knight than pretty much anyone in Hollywood right now."

This reminds exactly why Ben Affleck is a bad choice. He does not look like the most dangerous man on the planet. He never has. He looks about as threatening as George Clooney. He might make a good Bruce Wayne, but Batman? No.

I really hope he is great but I sure as hell wouldn't bet on it.

 

[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.

 

[Atmos Duality]

He can't be worse than Clooney.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I have nothing against Ben Affleck. I think he'll make a great Bruce Wayne. The thing that bothers me is the idea for this movie. Why Superman vs Batman when there's so many better things they can do with Superman?