Ben Affleck as Batman: Let’s Wait Before Telling Him He Sucks, Huh?
Last night, Warner Bros announced that Ben Affleck would follow Christian Bale as the next Caped Crusader, taking on the role of Batman in 2015′s still-unnamed follow-up to Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. Within minutes, social media imploded.
Internet, I love you, but you’re bringing me down.
I’ll admit it: I don’t get the outright disdain and fear for the idea of Affleck playing Batman. Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen Daredevil in years — or perhaps it’s because I have seen movies like Hollywoodland, The Town and Argo more recently, and think that Affleck’s a pretty good actor when he’s got decent material to work with. Coincidentally, I was watching Argo last night when I got the news about Affleck; When a friend texted to complain, I thought, “But he’s… good…?”
A lot of the criticism of Affleck’s casting relies on old jokes and lazy humor for effect, but doesn’t really have much substance when you start to think about it: Yes, he has a Boston accent — Is that a disqualification for playing a fictional character who lives in a geographically vague fictional city? (I hope those complaining about that don’t realize that Jor-El, Superman’s alien father, was played in Man of Steel by a human with an Australian accent.) Other jokes revolve around the fact that he’s married to Jennifer Garner and friends with former co-star Matt Damon, which — so what? The Damon thing, in particular, is weird; according to IMDb, Damon and Affleck haven’t appeared onscreen together since 2004′s Jersey Girl. That’s nine years ago. Let it go, people.
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