people tend to get comfortable with a guy and assume no one else can play the part. no one but Chris Reeve can play Superman... No one but Sean Connery can play Bond... No one but Harrison Ford can play Indiana Jones... Not to say that the process has never been fucked up before, but it's certainly possible for someone else to play Batman and, frankly, Bale was a MUCH better Bruce Wayne than he was a Batman.
If we're casting for a C grade Batman, then let's just say that. If they don't want to be a mockbuster Avengers they need a big name, might as well go with the best.
Eh, not quite fair - Robert Downey Jr wasn't an A-Lister before the Iron Man and Avengers movies -they made him an A lister. The other principles weren't big name actors either - they tried with Eric Bana and Edward Norton, but they didn't work or their $$$ were too high. And Sam Jackson was a bridging agent - he wasn't getting a lot of money for his cameos in the other movies, probably only got a decent pay day for Avengers. Hemsworth and Evans were making nothing - $500K for a feature role in a huge movie is a pittance. Personally I'd love to get Bale back, and think he'd do a great job as the linchpin for the new group. But I don't think its going to happen. So then why pay $$$ for this new Batman when you can get a good up and coming actor to do the role and have a lot of power contractually over them for additional movies? And if you aren't doing a lot of Bruce Wayne, and they probably won't be in this movie, then you don't need a big name to be wearing a mask for most of the action.
Superman, confronted by a mystery beyond his ability to deal with, tracks down The Worlds Greatest Detective, retired, using super hearing and x-ray vision plot device surveil-and-recon to piece together his whereabouts.
Only way I can see it working was if they rehashed the Batman vs Superman script from around a decade back, that had the newly married Bruce Wayne having his bride murdered by the Joker, who then promptly decamps to Metropolis so when the vengeful Bats came to get him Supes would stop him. Re-jigging that could work given how Rises finishes. Personally I'd rather see the Nolanverse 'bottled' and a fresh start though.
Holy shit! I thought you were fucking with me. It IS Ben Affleck! I'm still reacting, so not sure how I feel. But I don't hate the idea right off the, er, bat.
Couple of thoughts: I think I'm the only person on Earth that didn't hate him in "Daredevil" He's bound to be a better Batman than Bale (Bale was fine as Wayne, he sucked as the Bat) The fanboys are gonna have a collective apoplexy....I await this eagerly...
Ben bloody Affleck? Proof positive of why the Synder-verse has always been destined to be bollocks. I won't even begin to discuss the racist bullshit that was Argo.... Dear oh dear. Matt Damon as Robin anyone?
concur, though I'd have phrased it as "Bale was excellent as Wayne, and mediocre as the Batman." Truth? VERY few actors can be a "good Batman" in live action film. Projecting beyond the costume seems to be very difficult. Pathetically awful material aside, i still argue that the actor who came off best in-cape was Clooney. It's such a waste that he was written campy instead of serious.
If the Nick Cage Superman had happened, Clooney was supposed to cameo as Bats via videophone, gearing up for a crossover film.
Y'know...I kinda wanna freeze myself 15-20 years into the future to see how this goes down in cinema history BEFORE I see the flick.
so, i decamped to youtube in order to refresh my memory. I submit this clip as exhibit A [yt=Boileroom]UqDtf1aw818[/yt] Conclusion: the voice could be better, but I think he can be Batman in the Snyderverse. He won't be as tortured, probably, as the Nolan Batman, but he can be suitably "no-bullshit" both as Wayne and in-cape. It depends on the context of the story whether it's a perfect fit but I'm mostly supportive. That said, i think it ultimately is a great choice in terms of worldbuilding because casting an a-list star in the rule pretty much wipes out the need to introduce the new Batman version independently first. An unknown or little known actor would have to go through toe process of owning the role in the course of the movie, a "name" guy brings credibility with him from the opening scene so he doesn't have to prove anything to the audience - he gets a pass. The downside is that if you persist with the idea that this fhis going to be a "Superman movie" (pretty clearly it's not) then you run the risk that Aflack overwhelms Cavill in terms of "star power" - so you need Cavill to at least be his equal, if not his superior, as an actor - and given how much easier it is to chew scenery as Wayne/Bats than it is to do so as Kent/Supes, that's a very tall order.
Oh please. Keaton is the run away candidate for best screen Batman, and the reason for that is not only his acting chops, but because he was an unconventional choice, just like Wayne is an unconventional character. Clooney? Fucking joke. Too pretty.
Something with the Kingpin hiring Bullseye to take out Batman. And a greek chick. They're gonna need a greek chick.
I speak only of the time spent in-costume, not the time as Wayne. Keaton was, despite not looking anything like right for the part, an excellent Bruce Wayne (if one somewhat at odds with the print version who would never "get nuts" without the mask) - as the movie was written, keaton was excellent for THAT portrayal. As for "too pretty"? That's pretty much a job qualification.
Nolan is involved, and Snyder for better or worse, I see no reason to assume an Afflack influenced story.
oh, and by the way, I'm pretty sure - lack of internet access aside - that almost everyone said, in 1989, something like this: Micheal KEATON? Seriously? MICHAEL FUCKING KEATON??!!?!!? BEATTLEJUICE is going to play BATMAN????!!!? Am, I going to have to go to Hollywood and stick an icepick in Tim Burton's eye MYSELF???? ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! And...ya know...most folk think that one actually worked out okay.
I remember my objection to Keaton back in the day was that he was kinda puny to play Batman. And Adam West should definitely have had a role in the Burton Batman flick. I thought he would'a made a great Commissioner Gordon.
