October 25, 2013 – Batfleck’s reluctance
Over a month would go by before Affleck spoke out about the role again, but when he did he mentioned his original hesitation in taking on the role, saying:
“Initially I was reluctant as I felt I didn’t fit the traditional mold but once Zack showed me the concept, and that it would be both different from the great movies that Chris and Christian made but still in keeping with tradition I was excited. Doing something different and new is always tricky and part of the thrill and the risk is that initially it confounds expectations. The truth is, it’s the movie and the execution of it is what all the actors depend on and I believe in Zack’s vision.”
Affleck also confirmed in that interview that “tired and weary” were appropriate adjectives for his portrayal.
November 11, 2013 – Silent Bob Speaks!
On November 9, a fan event was held to discuss the Blu-ray for Man of Steel, and while many people expected some form of announcement about the film, it never came. Two days later however, writer/director Kevin Smith, who hosted the event, revealed that director Zack Snyder has showed him a picture of Ben Affleck in the brand new Bat-Suit.
“Now, I don’t want to give anything away ’cause that is up to them and stuff, but I am going to say this, I instantly bear hugged him (Snyder). You have not seen this costume in a movie on film before, and for a comic book fan it was mind bending. I was like ‘Get out of here, only you have enough power to pull this off.’ Because everyone always like does this Matrix/X-Men black armor…It was fantastic. I’m already a flag waver for this movie, but the costume, it blew my mind. I think everyone is just gonna be like ‘Holy ****!’ It’s its own thing, man. It’s like we haven’t been down this path at all. I was so elated….Even the hardest core “**** all this” person will be like ‘alright, I’m ready.’“
November 18, 2013 – Passing the Bat-Torch
Three months passed after Affleck’s initial casting announcement before a previous Batman spoke out about the reveal, but someone eventually managed to ask Christian Bale (who played the character in all three of Christopher Nolan’s films) what his thoughts were, to which he replied:
“I wish him all the best. He’s a very experienced actor and filmmaker and he’ll make it his own. Our thing’s finished, we’ve always declared it was finished and it should be passed on to another actor and it will be again after him.”
Bale also had one piece of advice for Affleck.
“The only thing I said to him is just make sure he can take a piss without anyone having to help him. Because it’s a little bit humiliating, at least what I went through, when you have to have someone help you out of the costume. That was my main piece of advice for him.”
December 2, 2013 – Supes on Bats
A few weeks later, Superman himself Henry Cavill would open up about Affleck’s casting, saying:
“I’m sure he’ll be fantastic, above all else, and as a filmmaker he’s got his own style, you know, he’s not copying anyone else. And he’s also sort of been tenacious in his career. He’s had ups followed by downs and now he’s very up again and I think that requires and shows a very special strength of character, and it’s something I enjoy working with because jobs like this require a strength of character. They require a dedication to the work and a belief in oneself and Ben has that, clearly.”
December 3, 2014 – Bats on Snyder
The next day, Affleck gave an interview where he discussed director Zack Snyder along with his approach to the film.
“From what I’ve seen of what’s Zack is doing, it’s made me very excited. One of the nice things about being an actor in that movie is they show you all the stuff before anyone else gets to see it. So all the sort of world-creation, and the take on the character and the other characters is really exciting. And at the end of the day, the truth is it’s really directors that make movies work or not — especially these kinds of movies, where it’s about the whole world, and a rising tide lifts all ships. And if it all has integrity, if it all has a sense of realism, then it works.”
December 20, 2014 – Merry Christmas Batman!
Twas five days before Christmas, and all through the ‘net, everyone was still wondering what Batman would look like in the new film. Costume designer Michael Wilkinson, who worked with Snyder on 300, Watchmen, and Man of Steel, revealed that the final tweaks for the costumes were being completed.
“We are now in the stage where we’re refining our designs with the last series of camera tests and doing our final tweaks in preparation for shooting.”
January 17, 2014 – Say it ain’t so
In the new year, Warner Bros. brought us some bad news: “Batman/Superman,” which still didn’t have a full title, wouldn’t be hitting theaters on July 17, 2015 anymore. Instead, the movie would drop on May 6, 2016, the same date as a yet-to-be-titled Marvel Studios film that ended up being Captain America 3.
January 20, 2014 – Garner keeps the hype going
Continuing where Kevin Smith left off from, Ben Affleck’s wife Jennifer Garner gave an interview where she also hyped up the new Batsuit, saying:
“I’ve seen the suit. It’s unbelievably cool, it’s a total reinvention, it looks great.”
Head over to page 3 to see what Affleck and company said about the differences in his Batman.
