Holy Hollywood, Batman!

Ben Affleck to don the cowl as The Dark Knight returns in Man of Steel sequel

Ben Affleck: Caped Crusader. A headline that sent the internet into a frenzy. Whilst the furor that followed was to be expected, the scale of animosity, however, possibly wasn’t.

Credit: The Guardian [online]

Respect was an alien concept to Affleck in his early 21^st century, ‘Gigli’ days. However, strong career moves in recent years have gifted him a newfound esteem. Hollywoodland, The Town and Argo all landed him reverence from the critics, and an Academy award, no less, for his spectacular directorial work on Argo.

Recent maturity on Affleck’s part, has led to his removal as the butt of every joke. Instead, directing seems to be his forte and he has got his career back on a path he can be happy with. Why is it, then, that Affleck is willing to jeapordise his revival by opening himself up to such a risk-laden project? Scott Mendelson’s insightful article for Forbes raises the interesting argument that perhaps Affleck’s decision is, in fact, a shrewd one that leaves Warner Bros. indebted to him. This debt could grant him a lifetime supply of money to continue making his gritty, artistic dramas. As Mendelson puts it, he is “arguably sacrificing Ben Affleck the actor to ensure the continued artistic legacy of Ben Affleck the director”.  

Perhaps the decision is less complicated, though; Affleck is quick to distance himself from the atrocity

Credit: digitalspy.co.uk

that was Daredevil so maybe he sees this as an opportunity to prove that he has the ability to successfully portray an emotionally damaged superhero?

Zack Snyder has promised us that Affleck’s Bruce Wayne will be “a man who is older and wiser than Clark Kent and bears the scars of a seasoned crime fighter”. This is ideal for Affleck, who has gotten to an age where the Expendables franchise might be the only place he could play ‘action hero’. His “I’ve seen things and lost people” character in Argo could be translatable for the image that Snyder clearly has for Wayne in Man of Steel’s sequel. 

In all honesty, the biggest problem with Man of Steel 2 is the fact that it involves Batman at all. DC Comics has, up to this point, made dark and emotionally gripping superhero movies; a far cry from Marvel’s glossy, action movies aimed at destroying the box office (as well as New York). However, Man of Steel’s incredible box office success of more than $649 million must have caused the Warner Bros. executives to have a greed-induced panic attack. Before we could take a breath after Man of Steel, Batman vs. Superman was being announced at Comic Con.

Sadly, DC will become the pet project of Warner Bros. and we will lose the grit and guile that made the Dark Knight trilogy such a breath of fresh air. Christopher Nolan will surely distance himself from such money grabbers, and the quality (although perhaps not the fun) will dissipate. However, maybe Affleck’s gritty films, courtesy of Warner Bros.’ debt to him, will act as a replacement?

This decision has left the future of DC unclear but, maybe, Affleck’s appointment isn’t all that bad. If he can emulate his performances from The Town and Argo then we may have a decent film on our hands. The stellar cast from Man of Steel will all be featuring again and David S. Goyer can certainly pen a clever script. If you were to ask Twitter, it is the end of cinema as we know it; in reality, it isn’t nearly as neglectful a decision as one might think.