I don’t really care who is playing Batman in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie, it doesn’t really matter to me as so many of these films seem to run into one another, but some new quotes from Ben Affleck discussing his decision to take on the role of Batman got me thinking.
First, the quotes from Al Norton and 411Mania:
Al Norton: Do you remember your first thought when the idea of you playing Batman was originally presented to you and was there a tipping point in your decision making process, a moment where you started to think, “I really want to do this”?
Ben Affleck: Initially I was reluctant as I felt I didn’t fit the traditional mold but once Zack showed me the concept, and that it would be both different from the great movies that Chris and Christian made but still in keeping with tradition I was excited. Doing something different and new is always tricky and part of the thrill and the risk is that initially it confounds expectations. The truth is, it’s the movie and the execution of it is what all the actors depend on and I believe in Zack’s vision.
Al Norton: Warner Brothers CEO Kevin Tsujihara recently said that this version of Batman would be “tired and weary and seasoned and been doing it for awhile”…Is that how you envisioned him as well and what would you add to the description on the Bruce Wayne side of things?
Ben Affleck: Yes, Kevin described it aptly. I don’t want to go further because I want to be able to capitalize on what is new about this iteration by having it be a surprise to the audience.
When it comes to Batman it isn’t really the ability to play Bruce Wayne that’s the issue and it isn’t even how convincing you look in the suit. What matters is the voice. While many always liked to poke fun at Christian Bale‘s decision to gravel up his voice for Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight trilogy, it was that decision that made the character more believable. Instead of simply using his own voice, you no longer looked at it as Bale in a suit, which has an air of ridiculousness to it. By changing the voice it gave the character more weight.
When it comes to which previous actor-turned-Batman that Affleck most reminds me of, the closest comparison is George Clooney, who was largely terrible, but that’s because he remained the same smug character whether he had on the suit or not. It made the character look ridiculous. It looked like a billionaire on Halloween, not a crime fighting vigilante we should both fear and respect.
Of course, Affleck is going to run into the issue of comparisons. He changes his voice and the online masses that would prefer to anticipate and then hate everything they see will rush to say, “Why did he change his voice? It was stupid on Bale and it’s even worse now.” Blah, blah, blah, but Affleck is going to have to alter his voice or they’ll have to do it in post production in some way. Perhaps add a small scene where we see Wayne has installed something in the suit to alter his voice. Whatever it is, we definitely can’t have Affleck’s own voice coming out of the face behind the cowl.
Filming on Batman vs. Superman is already underway in some capacity, though Affleck is currently finishing up work on David Fincher‘s Gone Girl.
