Batfleck! Crisis of the Ben!

I'm sure you all have heard by now that Ben Affleck has gotten the role as Batman in the upcoming sequel to the Man of Steel movie.  No matter how you felt about Zack Snyder's reboot on the Superman franchise, everyone seems to have an opinion of Affleck as Batman.  Most have been negative to the point where this could possibly be the apocalypse, and we should all be praying for salvation.  I can assure you that it is NOT that serious. It can always be worse.

Who can forget the Bat-nipples debacle? Clooney did not help matters.  Add in the awfulness of Ah-nold as Mr Freeze.  They really should have made him the first film version of Bane.  He would have been much better in that role.  Anyway I am not here to talk about Batman & Robin, and its many levels of horribleness.  I would much rather have it complely erased from my memmory. As I'm sure most true Batman fans would.

Clearly Affleck is not my first choice for the role either.  I thought Bale was good wearing the cape, but there was no chance he was going to reprise the role.  Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the best actors of our time. It would be interesting to see him in the role, but it's not likely for him to be in any superhero movie.  Gerard Butler would make an excellent choice, but he might overshadow the star.  Remember this is a Superman movie..  not Batman.  Josh Brolin is another name that has been thrown around.  I don't think he's so much better than Affleck that we should be protesting like this is the death of all cute puppies and kittens in the world.  He does have that squinty-eye look that would work well with the costume on. 

So why the protest?  There doesn't seem to be a candidate that would fit what they need for the role who would be a major upgrade over Affleck.  Remember that many people questioned the choice of Keaton when he was first given the role as Batman, and he has been one of the best to wear the cape.  I think we all just need to get over it.  If he completely craps the bed on this one then he deserves all the insults we can give him.  People on the internet are reacting like he already has without giving him a chance.  It's not like they gave the role to William Shatner.  That would be worth protesting!

It is all going to come down to how well they do it. If the script is well written then Snyder will make it pretty.  He is very good at making interesting and iconic shots throughout the movies he has made.  Unfortunately he hasn't always had a Gerard Butler to deliver the lines, or a script that maximizes his talent.  Superhero movies should fit his style like a glove, and we saw that with Man of Steel.  The problems with that movie mostly have to do with the script trying to do too much.  I expect the sequel to be much better with or without Affleck wearing the Dark Knight's cape.