When Ben Affleck was announced as the new live action Batman back in August of 2013, to say that there was a fan backlash would be a huge understatement. There was absolute uproar, as fans vented their “nerd rage” on social media and in blogs all over the internet and a petition was created to oust him from the role which smashed its 75,000 signatures target.
Reasons given for fan discontent at the casting have included things like Affleck’s age and his previous performance as Marvel superhero Daredevil back in 2003.
That being said, since the Argo actor has been seen and heard performing his role (in trailers, on posters, in set photos etc), fears have somewhat waned. He looks great in the costume and sounds suitably sinister to play the intimidating vigilante. In all fairness, that shouldn’t have come as a surprise – Affleck has come a long, long way since his Daredevil days and established himself as one of Hollywood’s finest stars.
This Batman will be very different to any we’ve seen on film before, however. The likes of Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney and Christian Bale all put their own stamp on the character by virtue of their own personalities and the material given to them and Affleck’s DC Cinematic Universe version will be a very unique entity as well. Here are five reasons why.
New Tech
The gadgets and technology utilised by Batman in all forms of media has always been extremely impressive, but the movies have been comparatively underwhelming in that regard.
That’s not to say movie versions of the Dark Knight have had poor gadgets – just that, in comparison to what he has used in the comic books, they’ve never been quite as good (of course, to be fair, he’s never faced a truly powerful foe in the movies and has never really needed to bust out his gadgetry big guns).
That is set to change, as he is going to don a suit of powered armour that will enable him to go toe-to-toe with Superman himself in physical combat.
The Batmobile and the usual gadgets will also appear, of course, but technology that enables Batman to rival the Man of Steel is several grades above anything ever seen in live action. With that in mind, it’s exciting to imagine what else from his arsenal of gadgets Batman might show off in the DC Cinematic Universe.
A New Costume
For the first time in modern movie history, Batman will be wearing a predominantly grey costume. Don’t worry though – if that’s invoking images of Adam West’s Batman get-up, it’s going to be absolutely nothing like that.
Ben Affleck’s Batman will be wearing a costume very reminiscent of the one seen in Frank Miller's brilliant 1986 miniseries The Dark Knight Returns. It truly is classic Batman and fans were rightly impressed by it when the first full-colour reveal occurred.
Past versions (Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney and Christian Bale) have all worn almost exclusively black costumes (with mixed receptions, depending on the style) and this new grey live action version has received almost universal praise.
At the very least, should Affleck’s performance end up being critically panned (which isn’t expected to be the case now), he’ll be panned whilst looking good and nobody will be able to say that his aesthetics as Batman weren’t executed perfectly.
He’ll Be Older & More Experienced
By the time Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits movie theatres in 2016, Ben Affleck will be into his 44th year. Compare that to Michael Keaton (into his 38th year in 1989 when Batman was released), Val Kilmer (into his 36th year in 1995 when Batman Forever was released), George Clooney (into his 36th year in 1997 when Batman and Robin was released) and Christian Bale (into his 31st year in 2005 when Batman Begins was released) and you realise that this Batman will undoubtedly be an older version.
Not only will he be older, he’ll also be more experienced. Affleck’s Batman will be a veteran crime-fighter who had actually retired several years prior to the events of the movie but returns to combat the Man of Steel.
As a result of that, there’ll be no origin story this time around either – a fact that will definitely differentiate him from previous versions in itself.
He’ll Start Off As The Antagonist
At its heart, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is essentially a sequel to Man of Steel. That’s what it’s being marketed as and Henry Cavill is the top-billed name on all marketing materials. With that in mind, there’s every reason to assume that his Superman will be the movie’s protagonist – at least to begin with.
That means that this Batman will be in the unusual position of being the antagonist from the moment the credits roll at the beginning.
He’ll be going after Superman, believing him to be a threat to the world – but audiences will know otherwise. Clark Kent is a decent guy with good morals and intentions – publicity in the DC Cinematic Universe and the government being wary of him will lead to him getting a bad image in the press. The audience will, therefore, see Batman as the villain initially.
It will be somewhat strange to see people rooting against the Dark Knight, but that will change fairly quickly when he eventually joins forces with Superman and forms the Justice League.
On that note…
We’ll See Him Working In Teams
Movie audiences have certainly seen Batman with allies in previous movies starring the Gotham City hero (Robin, Batgirl, Jim Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth and John Blake to name a few), but they’ve never seen him as part of a team. The expanded DC Cinematic Universe will change that.
Not only will the Dark Knight be a founding member of the live action Justice League (which will see him fighting alongside the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman), there are also rumours that he will actually be working with the Suicide Squad in their titular movie (at least that will be the idea to begin with, prior to them predictably going rogue) and he may even have a government-trained team working alongside him when he initially attempts to take down Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (assuming it is the government who request his services and employ him to do so).
It will be interesting to see how the notoriously lonesome and brooding vigilante will interact with fellow heroes for the first time in a live action movie. Roll on 2016!
What do you think? How will Ben Affleck’s Batman be different? Has this article covered everything? Have your say below.
