Ben Affleck’s taken quite a lashing from DC fans. Since it was announced last year that he’d signed on to star as Batman in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, the actor has put on a very brave face. After all, he’s already been held accountable for the lacklustre Daredevil. In the span of a year, however, the general consensus on Affleck donning the caped crusader’s outfit has changed. While fans aren’t exactly satisfied (a nigh-on impossible outcome), they’re finally easing into the realization.
That’s not to say Affleck hasn’t considered how his resume might have affected those opinions. Talking to NPR, he confessed that the fans weren’t alone, as he wasn’t entirely happy with Daredevil either:
Indeed I have regrets about Daredevil. I have regrets about all the movies that I don’t think were executed properly. … Look, if I thought we were remaking Daredevil, I’d be out there picketing myself … and that goes for other movies as well that I haven’t been happy with. You know, I’m hard on myself and I have exacting standards and I want to do excellent work and I don’t always succeed, but I think you have to start out with that drive.
He’s now convinced that a solid crew behind him will ensure BvS doesn’t suffer the same pitfalls of the former comic book adaptation:
“[Batman V Superman] was written by Chris Terrio, who wrote Argo, who’s not a comic guy. And it’s directed by Zach Snyder, who’s a incredibly magical sort of visual stylist who’s steeped in the comic world. And you have this sandwich of talents. I felt very confident about it. … I thought it would be nice to make one of these movies really, really good.”
The harsh reaction to Affleck being cast as Batman was grossly misjudged I think. His turn in Gone Girl is possibly his best-ever work, and if he’s coming off the back of a lot of critical applause to film BvS, he’ll be in the position to deliver. How many instances have there been when backlash to a casting announcement has seen a lot of folks red-faced once the film is released? The most obvious one to mention here is Heath Ledger, who was deemed an unworthy actor to tackle the Joker. And we all know how that turned out, right?
Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice opens on March 25th, 2016, and only then will we know if Affleck was the right man for the job.