When Justice League finally arrives next month, there will be a lot of fans out there praying that it won’t be anything like Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Despite the nerd-pleasing clash of the title, the gloomy tone and the wayward characterization of its eponymous heroes put many people off the movie.
Infamously, the negative reaction to BvS initially hit its star, Ben Affleck, quite hard, as seen in the hilarious “Sadfleck” video that went viral. Here we are over a year later, though, and the actor’s had time to reflect on what people had to say about the film. It turns out that he now understands the root of the criticism, even going so far as to call it “fair.”
Speaking to Empire (via ScreenRant), Affleck had this to say:
“I can understand people saying [Batman v Superman] was too dark, or this was outside the tone of what I’m used to seeing with a Batman story, and I think that’s a fair criticism.”
While certainly interesting, these comments aren’t Affleck admitting that Warner Bros. got it wrong with BvS and swiftly moved to correct things with Justice League. As was also discussed by his co-star Ezra Miller recently, the actor was keen to point out that it was always the plan to make JL lighter than the previous movies.
“But this was all scripted and set up before that movie came out. The approach was changed anyway for the second one. It was natural progression.”
Affleck’s words here are encouraging, to say the least. While few would argue that he didn’t turn in a great performance as the Dark Knight in Batman V Superman, the character’s extreme brutality in the film arguably stopped him from truly embodying the part. Going by what the actor’s saying here, though, it sounds like these ultra-violent edges have been sanded off for Justice League, leaving Affleck free to play the heroic – but still badass – Batman we all know and love.
