With the reboot of Zack Snyder’s DCEU by James Gunn, the decade-long franchise came to an end. Though the films were marred with mismanagement issues and many behind-the-scenes controversies, there were moments of excitement from casting announcements and concepts for films that kept the fans ecstatic.
One such moment was the announcement of Ben Affleck as Batman in Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. The filmmaker revealed the actor’s first look as the Caped Crusader for the first time 10 years ago and shut many naysayers up. The reveal still holds a special place in the hearts of fans as the actor’s performance received acclaim.
Fans Celebrate Zack Snyder’s Announcement Of Ben Affleck’s Batman Ten Years Later
After the mammoth success of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, WB wanted to fast-track a potential team-up film just like The Avengers and tapped the filmmaker to work on the sequel. While the film was a direct sequel to the events of Man of Steel, it also saw other superheroes of the DC roster such as Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman.
In 2014, Ben Affleck was cast as Bruce Wayne a.k.a Batman in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Snyder reportedly wanted an older Batman, someone who was well into his career as the vigilante instead of going for a proper origin story. Affleck was reportedly cast after Snyder considered many actors such as Josh Brolin, Richard Armitage, and Ryan Gosling among others (via THR).
10 years ago, Zack Snyder revealed the first look of Ben Affleck as Batman. In his muscular suit, the image saw Affleck standing in front of his Batmobile in an eerie, foggy atmosphere. The image was black and white and Snyder revealed that he himself had clicked the image with his Leica camera in monochrome.
Fans have since been celebrating what turned out to be one of the most memorable performances in the DCEU.
Hot take, but this feels like something from the Arkham games pic.twitter.com/vcXlBq1Hfy
— Freemaker Things (Atsushi Lokison) (@d4thbwthu) May 14, 2024
The warehouse scene aside from murder is peak Batman action like straight out of a comic book
— Eddie (@OHMYDIAZ) May 13, 2024
Ben Affleck's Batman will always be one of my favorite Batmen #ThankYouBatfleck #ZackSnydersJusticeLeague pic.twitter.com/ogl18goh0k
— Diante Baker (@Boss8527) May 13, 2024
This Batman definitely grew on me the longer I saw him
— Tristen Rodrigue (@trodrigue34) May 14, 2024
My favorite Batfleck moment is every single one!!
— Andrew Dustin Vargas (@andydv27) May 13, 2024
The suit
— ZachMaster97 (@ZachMaster97) May 14, 2024
The voice modulator
The brutal fighting style
The raw strength
The Batmobile
There are some DC characters that can work with the R rating, and some that are meant to have the R rating. R-Rated Batman is Batman brought to his full potential. pic.twitter.com/pywR1GKlAh
Though Batman V Superman itself was extremely divisive upon release, with many criticizing its dark overtones and overly political storyline, Affleck’s performance as Batman, especially in the combat sequences was appreciated.
Ben Affleck’s Batman Casting Initially Received Extreme Backlash
Any casting in the Batman franchise has led to widespread backlash from fans only for them to be proven wrong when the film finally came out. Actor Heath Ledger had to face it when he was cast as the Joker in The Dark Knight and he ended up receiving an Oscar for his performance while fans wrote letters to WB to change Michael Keaton’s casting for Batman.
However, when Ben Affleck was announced to be the next Caped Crusader in the DCEU, the fan backlash was extreme. According to THR, over 71% of the reactions to the news on X(formerly Twitter) were negative and many criticized his New York accent, his past performance as Matt Murdock in Daredevil, and his failure with Gigli.
Ben Affleck revealed that he was initially hurt by the backlash and mentioned that he just did the role for his son. He also mentioned being annoyed at signed online petitions, which reportedly received hundreds of thousands of signatures against his casting. He told The Howard Stern Show,
“I was hurt because I felt like ‘Wait a minute, come on. What do I got to do to’ you know what I mean? Like, I’m just you know, like, ‘Jesus Christ’…I thought it was an interesting idea but you know what? I also realized at that point…it’s gonna be, ‘Now this turns into a petition.’ Now they got this thing, everybody’s going to do a petition [protesting my casting as Batman]. You’re really — a hundred thousand [people], you signed a f*cking petition like, you have anything better to do with your day than sign petitions?”
Affleck’s co-star Gal Gadot too reportedly received similar backlash but both of their performances ended up being lauded by fans even if they did not like the film itself.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is streaming on Max.
