feature: 5 Reasons Why Ben Affleck is a Good Choice for Batman

August 28, 2013   //    1 Comment

Seriously.

1. He could give Zack Snyder some pointers

While people aren’t sure about him as an actor, no-one doubts his directing ability. With Gone Baby Gone, The Town and Argo under his belt he’s a bonafide, award-winning Hollywood director. Zack Snyder may be directing this movie, but maybe, just maybe, he takes a little input from Affleck? Since he’s there and everything.

Plus, everyone knows his name was bandied about to direct a Justice League movie and it’s not as though he hasn’t directed himself before, so that’s still on the cards. Perhaps even more likely now.

2. Unlikely to steal the movie from Superman

This is being billed as Man of Steel 2 so even though it features Batman, it looks like it’s still a Superman movie. And as much as I am not against Ben Affleck as Batman… he’s not exactly the most charismatic actor on screen. I think he’s a decent actor, but he’s not really a leading man. Not really. His biggest successes have been in ensembles or with a partner.

And that’s what we have here. Batman vs. Superman / Man of Steel 2 (or whatever it’s going to be called) will have two leads and it’s Henry Cavill he’ll be partnering with. Who also looks the part but… isn’t really a magnetic personality either. Further down the line we’re probably building up to Justice League and Batman will have to fit in an ensemble there as well. Ben Affleck is perfect for this.

Which leads me to…

3. It’s not like Batman’s all that anyway

One big problem, I felt, with Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is that Batman wasn’t exactly… present in the films. Particularly in The Dark Knight, and ok, partly due to the voice, Batman wasn’t very convincing as a hero. Now of course TDK wasn’t your traditional superhero film, it was more about Bruce Wayne… blah blah blah. Make the excuses as you will but the bottom line is that Batman has always been upstaged by the villains.

So how important is Batman going to be in Batman vs. Superman anyway? Plus, we don’t know what this Batman is going to be like. Maybe the film will require a more humble type of Batman.

These may seem like apologies for Affleck but…

4. Ben Affleck is a true Hollywood star

Sure, I may have just said that’s he’s not a standalone leading man. But he does have that star power. To make this work and kick off the franchise they need a star. They managed to get away with Henry Cavill as Superman but to make the big bucks, they need a name. Ben Affleck is that name. Josh Brolin? Ryan Gosling? They might be better actors, a bit edgier, a bit more exciting… but they’re also, let’s face it, a bit niche. For mass appeal, Ben Affleck’s your man. Your granny AND your nephew would be fine to go see Ben Affleck’s new superhero film.

5. Good chin

Well, obviously Batman needs a good chin.

Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments.