Ben Affleck Is Batman for Man of Steel Sequel (dir. Zack Snyder)

Unfortunately, you just reminded me.

 

Here's a compilation of reactions from when Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker:

http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/5/22/the-internets-reaction-to-heath-ledger-being-cast-as-the-jok.html

 

There are decades of source material to draw from with many of these characters. It's not a lack of material that often troubles these movies. It is too much material. The challenge is figuring out which ones adapt well and avoid shoving too many stories and characters into one movie. That last bit was what ruined Spider-Man 3 and X-Men: The Last Stand. They tried to do too much.

Take the X-Men franchise, for example, which is now six movies in, with Days of Future Past in production. They really have two origin stories, X-Men and X-Men: First Class, both of which did a good job pulling character beats from the comics and mixing them into an original story. X-Men 2 worked because it was based on a strong story from the comics, God Loves, Man Kills.

The difference in the two Wolverine movies? The Wolverine narrowed the focus and used better source material, specifically the characters time in Japan.

That, more than anything, is why I'm looking forward to Day of Future Past, which draws on a well-loved story from the comics. It's also a surprisingly short story in the comics, so it's possible to get it done without the story feeling cramped.

 

This is a great lede graph:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/ben-affleck-is-the-batman-you-deserve-right-now-ap,101999/

 

It's interesting to look at this from Affleck's angle too. He's come back from a career that was headed toward oblivion and became one of the most respected directors working, along with his acting in those movies. Now he goes back to a comic book role. It feels like if Clooney had decided to return to superheroes after Good Night and Good Luck and Syriana.

 

I guess this means things have come full circle for Affleck...

 

FACK you, Supahman!

 

Batfleck just made me laugh out loud...

 

So, obviously, Matt Damon is Robin, right?

 

I'm expecting this to turn into Affleck directing the Justice League movie when it's announced. Maybe they have the deal signed for Supes vs. Bats and are still working out details of what comes after that. Could be interesting.