If your answer to that headline is "Hell Yes!" then you and I have some sh*t to discuss. It was expected that last night's bombshell confirming Ben Affleck as Batman in the Man of Steel sequel would send some people racing to their keyboards, steams of anger blasting from their ears, to voice their displeasure. Hit the Twitters or the Facebook and you've probably seen it, perhaps gotten into a heated argument over it as I have done. But a petition? Really?
Over 2100 people have signed a Change.org petition to have Ben Affleck removed as Batman. What's their reason for this useless cause to champion? Because that Daredevil movie wasn't too good a friggin' decade ago....
His acting skill is not even close to being believable as Bruce Wayne and he won’t do the role justice. He’s not built, nor is he intimidating enough for the role of Batman. His portrayal of Daredevil was atrocious and he’s not remotely close to an action star. Please find someone else.
If we were going to hold every actor forever responsible for one role they played years earlier, nobody would ever be able to star in anything. And I think it's worth mentioning that nobody thought Michael Keaton could play Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton's Batman, but he's still considered one of the best to ever don the cape and cowl. As our friends over at Bleeding Cool point out, Warner Bros. got slammed with 50,000 complaints over Keaton back then. Good thing they didn't listen.
My own personal feelings on this is that I'm disappointed we won't be seeing a lesser known actor get his big break, someone like Jeffrey Dean Morgan or Joe Manganiello, but I can't sit here and say Affleck isn't qualified. Nor can I say he can't pull off the role, because a look back at his filmography shows that he can. Worried about him playing gritty and tough? Check out The Town. Don't think he can play old and haggard? Check out Hollywoodland. Don't think he can play suave? He's Ben Affleck for pete's sake, his career was practically built on it.
I don't really have much love for these online petitions or the computer activists who think punching a few buttons is the same a putting boots on the ground, but here's hoping these folks signing a Batman petition will go and sign one that has some actual merit.
