Earlier this week, it was reported that executives at Warner Bros. were so impressed with Ben Affleck's Batman in the upcoming "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" that they wanted him to be the feature hero of the DC Extended Universe. This included re-editing "Batman V Superman" to give Affleck more screen time.
Director Zack Snyder now confirmed that while the Dark Knight is seen more than the Last Son of Krypton, it's all part of his master plan.
"It's a different Batman than the Batman that was in the Chris Nolan movies, so we have a little bit more explaining to do - and you just had a whole Superman movie," Snyder told The Daily Beast. "But I think only in that way, because you need to understand where Batman is with everything. And that's more toward the beginning, but it evens back out as it goes on."
It's fair to argue that after seven live-action Batman films in less than three decades, fans are well aware of Batman's whole story. Although this particular Caped Crusader will be older and more battle weary than previous iterations, audiences still know the familiar beats (i.e. his parents' murder). Yet Batman remains the most possible DC hero and the middling critical reception to 2013's "Man of Steel" may have had something to do with this approach.
From a fan's perspective, it's disappointing that Warner Bros. and DC are dipping back into the Batman well so extensively (the character will also appear in David Ayer's "Suicide Squad"). Despite "Man of Steel's" flaws as a film, there is still a lot of potentially interesting ground to cover with Superman's character. In addition, the introductions of Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor, Jason Momoa's Aquaman and Ezra Miller's Flash in "Batman V Superman" all hold considerable promise if given enough time to develop. Unfortunately, it appears as if Snyder is bypassing that strategy to center on Affleck.
Movie fans, what do you think about Snyder and Warner Bros.' plans to emphasize Batman in the DCEU? Let us know in the comments section below!
