Justice League Ben Affleck IS Bruce Wayne/Batman - Part 6

[kguillou]

It pains me that we never saw that in the movie, all we got is blurred, out of focus image of Batman on a gargoyle.

I am baffled why Whedon thought that necessary to cut out a 3 second epic shot like that. Baffled.

 

[The Shape]

Whedon gonna Whedon.

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

So The Bat-Fleck era is over. Sad... I really liked Ben, I just didn't care for the direction Snyder took him in. He was ready to go, so no point in keeping him around.

Affleck should have been more B:TAS/Jim Lee Batman and less Miller/DKR Batman.

 

[Da-Scribe]

I am baffled why Whedon thought that necessary to cut out a 3 second epic shot like that. Baffled.

I don't hate Whedon, but this is the same guy who insisted on the farm stuff in AoU.

 

[Micromind]

Whedon gonna Whedon.

This.

 

[chintai80]

So The Bat-Fleck era is over. Sad... I really liked Ben, I just didn't care for the direction Snyder took him in. He was ready to go, so no point in keeping him around.

Affleck should have been more B:TAS/Jim Lee Batman and less Miller/DKR Batman.

i would've loved that. and i think affleck could play that version wonderfully if given the chance.
there's elements of that batman in BvS.

 

[The Guard]

Can't be too sad, because he got to play Batman three times, and let's face it, it was time to move on.

A few too many people patting themselves on the back across the net for knowing all along Affleck was gone, as if it was this great big secret. It’s not like we didn’t wade through a year of speculation and rumors of just that.

There’s also a lot of fairly unnecessary hate for him, his performance, and anyone who liked him from certain quarters, but I guess you'll have that.

I thought he was excellent as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. There were some great moments in his films, and he certainly wasn’t the issue with the DCEU, though his personal life did up creating a narrative distraction.

I am glad we got to see Affleck take Batman through the fall, redemption and “putting together the band” arc, at least. Thinking about it, he got to play a pretty unique version of Batman, with considerably more character range than many (who tend to be more straight antiheroes), and he really fit the cape, cowl and Batsuit like few have.

What might have been, and all that. I’m always up for a new take, though. That’s the beauty of the mythos.

Though if his friends take on the Legion of Doom and he wants to suit up and wish them luck in 2025...

 

[Polux]

i would've loved that. and i think affleck could play that version wonderfully if given the chance.
there's elements of that batman in BvS.

That's the direction they were planing on going from JL and on, according to Jay Oliva.

 

[kguillou]

A few too many people patting themselves on the back across the net for knowing all along Affleck was gone, as if it was this great big secret. It’s not like we didn’t wade through a year of speculation and rumors of just that.

There’s also a lot of fairly unnecessary hate for him, his performance, and anyone who liked him from certain quarters, but I guess you'll have that.

I thought he was excellent as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. There were some great moments in his films, and he certainly wasn’t the issue with the DCEU, though his personal life did up creating a narrative distraction.

I am glad we got to see Affleck take Batman through the fall, redemption and “putting together the band” arc, at least. Thinking about it, he got to play a pretty unique version of Batman, with considerably more character range than many (who tend to be more straight antiheroes), and he really fit the cape, cowl and Batsuit like few have.

What might have been, and all that. I’m always up for a new take, though. That’s the beauty of the mythos.

Same here, man. I’m thankful for what we got. We got a tour de force performance in the 3 hour BvS and the scenes Zack shot of him in JL.

Not gonna lie, this just makes me want the ZS cut even more. If Ben is gone, and Henry too, let us see the last footage of them as a proper goodbye.

 

[Polux]

You know, I'm pretty "okay" with the news, I'm not happy and if I could have it my way I'd have Batfleck for a ton more movies, but I'll live, same if Cavill is gone; the only thing I wish and I can still hope for is the release of the Snyder cut so we have a proper closure to Zack's vision for the DCEU (as proper as it can be with all of the WB meddling). Us fans get so incredibly greedy about these properties and the actors portraying them, but these actors are real people with careers and dreams and goals of their own, and each single one of these movies represent YEARS of their lives, so to have an actor portray a character through 3 movies is plenty to ask for IMO, still sad how things came to be.

And I'm a fan of Reeves, but I only have 2 reservation with what his Batman could be: 1.- What tone will he take?? To me Snyder got the sweet spot between verisimilitude and fantasy; his take on Batman (and the universe) was the perfect mix between Nolan's "realism" and Burton "dark fantasy", it was a proper comic book world that still felt like our real world (way more "real" than the MCU for example, and this isn't a jab, it's just different tones), and I feel Reeves might lean more towards the Nolan approach, which takes me to point 2.- The look. I think very few will argue that Batfleck, looks wise, is a perfect a page-to-screen translation as you can get, both as Bruce and Batman; in every new iteration of the character they change designs (which makes sense with every director wanting to do their own thing) and Reeves surely has his vision of what Batman must look like and how to present it, but I really don't know if you can get any closer to the comics than Batfleck in both looks and iconography, which means Reeves' version will get further away from that. I'm under the impression - and I might and hope I'm wrong - that Reeves might opt for a more Nolan-esque approach to it. This is one instance in which I hope WB's intervention as "hey, we finally got it RIGHT, so let's not change the look that much!"

I'm still excited to see what's next and happy for what we got. There's nothing we can do about it, so why go crazy over it??

 

[Jekecy]

So The Bat-Fleck era is over.

Is it really an era if it was only 1.5 years?

We've been speculating his departure for longer.

 

[Erzengel]

Is it really an era if it was only 1.5 years?

We've been speculating his departure for longer.

It's technically since August of 2014 when his casting was announced, until officially January 2019.

 

[Jekecy]

It's technically since August of 2014 when his casting was announced, until officially January 2019.

Yeah it feels like a lifetime, that run's been artificially lengthened by all the waiting we've been doing. He had a short burst of films in a close period of one another...and that was it.

 

[B]

Kinda disappointed he's stepping down, he's appeared as Batman in 2 films, both of which have been, to put nicely, bad - average films overall. Even despite that he's probably been my favourite on screen representation of Batman to date despite some flaws. Shame he wasn't 10 years younger or they hadn't cast him when he was whatever age he did Daredevil at.

 

[Cain]

I'm grateful that we got one of the most idiosyncratic versions of Batman ever through him. I'm a lifelong DC Comics guy since '88. Elseworlds were my jams. I always enjoyed versions of these heroes that took us outside our comfort zones and explored new angles. Be it Vampire Batman or Commie Superman.

So to me the idea of a broken and jaded Batman who has completely lost his moral compass only to be reinspired by the most hopeful child of the sun clicked. I just wish we had gotten his entire planned arc Darkseid standoff included.

Nevertheless I'm thankful for what we got. BvS: UE is my 3rd fave after The Dark Knight and Batman. That's a hell of an achievement. Loved everything with him in Suicide Squad. Only was annoyed by his Batman in Justice League (name dropping Alfred instead of calling him Penny One for instance all the yuk yuk moments) but I still liked his Bruce there too. It was very DCAU like.

Wish he would've gotten one more round but I'm looking forward to what comes next. At least it'll still be a version of the same Batman since Matt Reeves hasstated his story is set within the DCEU for a long time now on his twitter and interviews. So it makes the bitter pill a bit easier to swallow.

 

[Patchwork Man]

I am baffled why Whedon thought that necessary to cut out a 3 second epic shot like that. Baffled.

Because he knew people loved it and he didn't shoot it. He wanted to show Batman on the ground, clutching his thigh.

Whedon's a hack who got lucky. Right opportunity, right time, twice. He's walked away with some nice paydays. But that's about it.

 

[flickchick85]

Sorry, but Whedon has far better story/character work in his back catalogue than Zack Snyder could even dream of. A hack he is not. Phoning it in on JL? Absolutely. But it's not like there was much he could do on that front, anyway.

 

[chintai80]

yea, i felt like if WB let whedon made JL from the start - then it wouldve been on par with the first avengers probably.

WB should've either let snyder finish what he started.
or...after bvs got such bad critical reception, they let snyder go and let whedon take the wheel from the beginning.

the last minute reshoots did not help.

personally, i would have liked to see snyder finish up his vision vs a whedon helmed JL.
because we already know what whedon can do.
i wanted to see what a balls to the wall superhero team up movie looks like under snyder.

 

[Cain]

I personally haven't liked one thing Whedon has done since Serenity. Matter of fact I've only seen 2 MCU movies (Spidey v Keaton and Thor Tree) since The Avengers served as a colossal gut punch that let me down so bad that I gave up on the MCU altogether after it. With the latter it was literally in fast forward mode mostly for the Goldblum parts and that was still a disappointment.

So when I heard he was taking over JL my soul shattered and I did not go near it when it was in theaters. When I watched it on HBO my fears were confirmed. Whedon had a spark when he started. His rewrites made Speed an action classic and Buffy and Angel always hold a special place in my heart; but now he's just garbage. So glad his Batgirl crashed and burned.

 

[Patchwork Man]

Sorry, but Whedon has far better story/character work in his back catalogue than Zack Snyder could even dream of. A hack he is not. Phoning it in on JL? Absolutely. But it's not like there was much he could do on that front, anyway.

Come on, flick. That's crazy talk. Ever watch Firefly or Serenity? They put me to sleep! Just a cheap Star Wars knockoff. That's what Whedon likes to do. He's like a fourth-rate George Lucas. Are you saying Avengers would not have been as successful under another director? Why did he use the same plot template for Age of Ultron? (Let's not forget, again, that Goyer and Terrio were the writers on MoS/BvS.)

 

[flickchick85]

Come on, flick. That's crazy talk. Ever watch Firefly or Serenity? They put me to sleep! Just a cheap Star Wars knockoff. That's what Whedon likes to do. He's like a fourth-rate George Lucas. Are you saying Avengers would not have been as successful under another director? Why did he use the same plot template for Age of Ultron? (Let's not forget, again, that Goyer and Terrio were the writers on MoS/BvS.)

I'm said what I said, and it's the truth. I can guarantee if Zak Penn's Avengers had been made, it would've been far, FAR less successful. And yeah, I think Firefly/Serenity were great, but not his best work. Still better storytelling than anything I've seen from Snyder, though.

 

[Patchwork Man]

So glad his Batgirl crashed and burned.

Man, that would've been some hot garbage. His "make it dark, make it grim, tell a joke" fetish is tired and lazy, and he shifted it into "O" on JL.

 

[Patchwork Man]

I'm said what I said, and it's the truth. I can guarantee if Zak Penn's Avengers had been made, it would've been far, FAR less successful. And yeah, I think Firefly/Serenity were great, but not his best work. Still better storytelling than anything I've seen from Snyder, though.

No, those are your opinions. We agree to disagree.

 

[flickchick85]

No, it's just your opinion, and let's just leave it there, okay? We agree to disagree.

If you can call it crazy talk, I can call it the truth.

But yes, as always, I'm happy to agree to disagree.