It’s long been known that Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder’s respective take on The World’s Greatest Detective are worlds apart, both in terms of aesthetic and in their desire (or lack thereof) to assimilate Batman into a large DC universe. But a key component that treads the line between both franchises is producer Charles Roven, who is on board for Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Having worked with Nolan across all three entries in The Dark Knight Trilogy, Roven is well versed in the minutia of bringing The Caped Crusader to the silver screen. And in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the producer revealed that Ben Affleck was the first actor they approached to don the cape and cowl in the wake of Christian Bale.
“He was the first guy we went to. That’s who we wanted,” explains Roven. “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.”
Alas, it seems as though Snyder and co. had a very clear archetype for their vision of Batman. It’s understood that Affleck will indeed play a more world-weary Bruce Wayne, with reports suggesting that the protagonist will be in his mid-40s. But, as they say, age is just a number, and Roven believes that Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will serve up a much rougher incarnation of The Caped Crusader.
“He’s much more of a social animal in the Bruce Wayne incarnation, but he’s also an extremely rough guy in the Batman incarnation – very, very, very rough.”
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will release into theaters on March 25th, 2016. Until then, you can share your thoughts on Roven’s comments down below.
