“Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” producer Charles Roven has dished details about Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot’s characters in the upcoming film.
During an interview for “The Hollywood Masters” series at Loyola Marymount School of Film, Roven explained why Affleck was chosen to play Batman in the Warner Bros. production.
"He was the first guy we went to, that's who we wanted,” Roven said. “We knew that we wanted a very mature Batman, because we wanted to juxtapose him with this very young Superman.
“So we wanted a guy, who was tougher, rugged, who had signs of life, who had lived a hard life, and we wanted the guy to have chops for sure. So when we went down that list, there just weren't a tremendous number of guys who could carry that. We also wanted a guy with big stature. Ben is 6-4. Henry [Cavill] is a 6-1.”
Roven also touched on how DC has branched into shared universes after “The Dark Knight Trilogy”.
The “Batman vs. Superman” producer explained Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Trilogy” was a “closed universe” that showed off Batman's humanity. There was no supernatural elements to the films and wouldn’t make sense to add characters who possess extraordinary gifts.
“When we embarked on Man of Steel…one of the things we were doing was we were created a universe that had a superhero in it, because Superman is clearly a superhero, he has superpowers,” Roven said. “So once we did that, it was with the knowledge that, if the movie was successful and we expanded the universe, we were going to expand it and populate it with other, like characters.”
“Batman vs. Superman” will touch on the events of “Man of Steel” and introduce new characters to the franchise, including Wonder Woman. Roven confirmed Gadot’s superhero persona is rooted in Greek mythology. Diana Prince will be a demigod, daughter of Zeus, who possesses powers of a goddess.
“Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” is slated to hit theaters on March 25, 2016.
