Ben Affleck’s Batman has been seen in two very different lights so far in the DCEU. In his debut outing in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, the actor portrayed a Frank Miller-esque Bruce Wayne – an ultra-violent, even murderous, version of the vigilante gone to seed. In Justice League, though, the character had learned to hope again and was much lighter and less brooding.
It was a sharp shift in the tone of the depiction of the Dark Knight, so it’s naturally received a mixed response from fans. Affleck himself, though, sounds like he couldn’t be happier with the character’s development. In fact, he recently told Daily Sabah how much he enjoyed playing “the straight man” to the more comedic elements of the movie.
“I like this version of Batman a lot. It was a lot to carry around the danger of being angry and resentful of Superman the whole time, which led to a darker tone. And with this one, Batman is not a Joker and is not as funny, but is hilarious, as the straight man to Flash and other people. That’s a nice dynamic to get to play off of somebody and have a little bit more irony and have a little bit more self-awareness, a little bit more fun with the movie. That was great.”
This is just the latest comment from the actor which suggests his views on the DC Extended Universe are changing once again. Around Justice League‘s release, it became known that Affleck was looking to get out of the Batman role in the near future, with Jake Gyllenhaal possible taking over, beginning with Matt Reeves’ The Batman standalone. However, Affleck recently spoke positively about that project, even suggesting that he could star in it, after all.
Whether it’s Affleck who portrays him or Gyllenhaal or someone else entirely, there’s certainly much more to explore with Batman’s character in the DCEU. As first teased in BvS, this is a Dark Knight who’s been fighting crime in Gotham for years now, with his extensive rogues gallery and even his band of sidekicks already in place in the franchise’s continuity. The Batman will hopefully capitalize on this and give us the most authentic iteration of the caped crusader we’ve seen yet on screen.
