In a new interview with Ben Affleck, the actor says he wouldn’t have taken the role of Bruce Wayne in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice if he didn’t think he could pull it off.
Since Affleck was cast as the new Batman, doubters and Daredevil haters have questioned the actor’s ability to successfully portray the caped crusader in director Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman.
In a new interview he explains that his long career in Hollywood has given him the ability to know when he’s capable of pulling off a character or not.
Affleck says, “Before I took the role, Warner Bros. gave me a bunch of past reactions to casting and said, “Are you sure you want to get into this? This is part and parcel of these movies now. There’s a lot of active fans with a lot of opinions.”
He continued, “To me, having been through a certain amount of that, it doesn’t really… Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. I wouldn’t have taken the part if I didn’t trust my instincts in terms of the filmmaking.”
We hadn’t heard much from Affleck since Batman v Superman began production, despite seeing him for the first time as Bruce Wayne on the movie’s set while filming in Detroit.
While speaking with EW, Affleck reaffirms Batman fans that he wouldn’t have taken the role if he didn’t think he could pull it off and if the script wasn’t where he thought it should be.
Having turned into quite the filmmaker himself, we find it more reassuring to hear him talk about how excellent the script is, which was penned by Argo screenwriter Chris Terrio.
Terrio and Affleck obviously worked together on the Oscar Award-winning film Argo and it was most likely the reason we’re seeing the two together once again. Chris Terrio is also working on Warner Bros. Justice League film, which is set to hit theaters within the next few years.
He says, “I think Chris Terrio wrote a terrific script. Zack’s a great visual director. And there’s an interesting take. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think I could do it. I have the benefit of a lot of that understanding. But also, everyone is entitled to their opinion. That’s a big part of this international sport. The Fifty Shades of Grey kid or whatever it is. That’s sort of become a thing.”
Affleck says he hasn’t let the negativity seen online distract him, saying, “You know what? It’s great that people do care that much. They want to see the movie that much. And it is incumbent on you to honor the story.”
Affleck then explained that he believes the success of all the recent surge of superhero films is similar to our love of Greek mythology.
The actor says, “There are the Greek myths and these are the American myths. The American myths are these superheroes. People care about ‘em a lot. And it’s incumbent on you to do a good job and make it as excellent as you possibly can.”
He then went on to discuss the difficulties of getting in peak condition for the role. Despite Batman being in his mid 40s in the Man of Steel sequel, the actor says he wanted to make sure that the character was physically imposing and he made sure that he wouldn’t disappoint fans.
He says, “It’s a process that I’ll probably have better perspective on when I’m done. I can tell you that every time I do a role, it’s the responsibility of an actor to get their physical self as close to the role as possible. And Batman’s obviously got a set of expectations that are tough. So I spent a lot of time working out.”
Ben also talked about Gone Girl, his other new film, which he says required an entirely different type of training. “And it’s a far cry from Gone Girl where my character is described as ‘puffy and hungover.’ I want you to know I worked equally hard at both! [laughs]”
From the footage we saw at Comic-Con we think Affleck will do the character justice in Batman v Superman and he certainly looks the part as Bruce Wayne in the first video and images we’ve recently seen from the set.
What’s probably more important is director Zack Snyder creating a film which can include all the superheroes that are being added to the film’s storyline.
Which reportedly will include another superhero, Aquaman, who will be played by Game of Thrones’ actor Jason Momoa. Director Zack Snyder called in a radio station to defend Aquaman’s superhero abilities last week.
While they’ll probably have less screentime than Batman and Superman, we know that Wonder Woman’s (Gal Gadot) first look at Comic-Con got some incredibly positive buzz and we hope she ends up with a large part in the film as well.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice recently had its release date pushed up to March 25, 2016.
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