Affleck Co-Writing and Directing Standalone Batman Film

[The Laughing Fish]

I don't consider BVS an automatic slam dunk by any stretch.

It's a pairing between Superman (whom audiences responded well to in MOS) with Batman (whom audiences have mostly responded well to since 1989). If there's such a thing as a sure thing, BvS is it.

I'm looking forward to the film, but I have to admit, I'm uncertain how the audience will react towards it when it comes out. I'm sure whether I like the film or not will depend on my personal opinion...but I just can't help but feel that whatever flaws the film may have will be overanalyzed and complained about, and before you know it, there's a controversy over nothing i.e. Zod's death. Look at the online furore surrounding Jared Leto's Joker. People make a big deal how he looks nothing like the Joker...and yet they're the ones that praised TDK's Joker appearance, which in my opinion, I find to be quite rich. And of course the whole Ben Affleck casting reaction when it was announced just left a bad taste in my mouth. Filming didn't even begin yet, but you still saw sheep complaining prematurely that he's the worst Batman ever.

I don't want to make excuses if the film does have shortcomings. But I got to tell you man, I seriously get this awful feeling that there are people out there who want to see this film fail. I don't mean people who have genuine concerns, but people who think it will suck no matter what. They might be a loud minority for all we know, but they are annoying.

[Dagenspear]

I'm looking forward to the film, but I have to admit, I'm uncertain how the audience will react towards it when it comes out. I'm sure whether I like the film or not will depend on my personal opinion...but I just can't help but feel that whatever flaws the film may have will be overanalyzed and complained about, and before you know it, there's a controversy over nothing i.e. Zod's death.

That was done poorly. The entire situation was out of place.

Look at the online furore surrounding Jared Leto's Joker. People make a big deal how he looks nothing like the Joker...and yet they're the ones that praised TDK's Joker appearance, which in my opinion, I find to be quite rich.

There's likely a reason for that. The Joker in TDK was a minimalist approach to the character, that was grimey and messy, but still had the look. It wasn't overdone. The problem people seem to have with Jared Leto's Joker is that he's overdone. Tattoos all over his body. Metal teeth. Shirtless. A purple leather jacket. It's all trying too hard to look cool looking for some.

God bless you! God bless your family and everyone else in your life!

[Edd Grayson]

If you ask me, doing the Joker now wasn't a very smart move considering that not so much time passed since Nolan's Batman ended, and the new one isn't established. 

[thecolorsblend]

As burnt out as we all might be on the Joker, he's a marquee character. Warner Bros. probably think they'd be foolish to not use him somehow.

Live action DC has challenges that live action Marvel just doesn't. Starting with X-Men and going right on through to today, wide audiences weren't familiar with 99% of Marvel characters so making films about them was inherently new and original.

Batman and, to a lesser degree, Superman films have been virtually ubiquitous for decades now. But they're still DC's flagship characters so WB can't avoid them. Pairing the two characters is one of the few truly original things WB can do right now. Plus, having a more limited teamup is different from Marvel, who either have solo films or explicitly team films. Pairing villains has been done for decades but pairing heroes is a pretty different idea in the big scheme of things.

Yes, there are groups out there who want the movie to fail. Hell, they'll try like crazy to convince you that MOS did fail. They're not fans. They say they are but they're not. They're pissed off that their precious Donner franchise has officially been shown the door. Or Singer "franchise" too, I guess. They've had close to twenty years to embrace a live action DCU and have routinely resisted it every single time. It gets to the point where I just don't believe they're fans anymore.

[Dagenspear]

Yes, there are groups out there who want the movie to fail. Hell, they'll try like crazy to convince you that MOS did fail. They're not fans. They say they are but they're not. They're pissed off that their precious Donner franchise has officially been shown the door. Or Singer "franchise" too, I guess. They've had close to twenty years to embrace a live action DCU and have routinely resisted it every single time. It gets to the point where I just don't believe they're fans anymore.

I don't know why this was brought up, but as someone who doesn't really like or care about those movies that much, I can say that I don't find a single ounce of the movie worth talking about and that it's conclusion and whatever point it was trying to make made no sense and wasn't well developed. The Zod killing scene is an issue where the problem isn't what it was, but how it was done, why it was done and the fact that it's utterly pointless in the film and leaves a whiplash inducing shift. The film didn't fail financially, but as writing it was mediocre.

God bless you! God bless your family and everyone else in your life!

[Edd Grayson]

Well, it's not that they're using Joker, it's that they're using him so soon.

[Wayne49]

I don't consider BVS an automatic slam dunk by any stretch.

It's a pairing between Superman (whom audiences responded well to in MOS) with Batman (whom audiences have mostly responded well to since 1989). If there's such a thing as a sure thing, BvS is it.

I'm looking forward to the film, but I have to admit, I'm uncertain how the audience will react towards it when it comes out. I'm sure whether I like the film or not will depend on my personal opinion...but I just can't help but feel that whatever flaws the film may have will be overanalyzed and complained about, and before you know it, there's a controversy over nothing i.e. Zod's death. Look at the online furore surrounding Jared Leto's Joker. People make a big deal how he looks nothing like the Joker...and yet they're the ones that praised TDK's Joker appearance, which in my opinion, I find to be quite rich. And of course the whole Ben Affleck casting reaction when it was announced just left a bad taste in my mouth. Filming didn't even begin yet, but you still saw sheep complaining prematurely that he's the worst Batman ever.

I don't want to make excuses if the film does have shortcomings. But I got to tell you man, I seriously get this awful feeling that there are people out there who want to see this film fail. I don't mean people who have genuine concerns, but people who think it will suck no matter what. They might be a loud minority for all we know, but they are annoying.

I completely understand your feelings on this. In fact I eluded to this loosely in a response I just made this morning in the Nolan section regarding an inquiry about why Batman never gets more than a trilogy in a treatment. I think fans have a hard time explaining what they want in a Batman project. The most often heard comment is what they don't want...after it's been made. So I think Batman and his world of eccentric characters will always face an uphill battle anytime someone brings a new interpretation to the big screen (or even in comics). That's the nature of the beast and I doubt it will change in our lifetime.

While I have some early concerns for this project, I'm in no way deterred from seeing it. I've come to understand on film, Batman will constantly evolve and it's best not to get too married to any one screen concept. I've yet to walk out of any Batman movie hating it and I've seen them all during their initial runs. *Sigh* am I getting old.  In a nutshell I'm hoping for a fun and fascinating story. On the short-end, I'm hoping Snyder doesn't get lost in the minutia of trying to sell pop psychology to an audience that didn't come looking for it. This is Batman versus Superman. Let's hope it's exhilarating with high stakes, but also with big rewards at the end. In my book a comic book movie should be fun and entertaining. That's all I ask.

[thecolorsblend]

I don't know why this was brought up, but as someone who doesn't really like or care about those movies that much, I can say that I don't find a single ounce of the movie worth talking about and that it's conclusion and whatever point it was trying to make made no sense and wasn't well developed. The Zod killing scene is an issue where the problem isn't what it was, but how it was done, why it was done and the fact that it's utterly pointless in the film and leaves a whiplash inducing shift. The film didn't fail financially, but as writing it was mediocre.

I can see that. Nobody seemed to mind Superman torturing and then killing Zod in Superman II but that's small details, I guess.

The breed of "fan" I referred to in my post has this borderline psychotic hatred of everything that isn't the Reeve Superman. It gets to the point where I begin to suspect that they're fans of those movies but not Superman fans in general or DC fans in general. This is the type of fan I'm totally done with. They call FOADIAF as far as I'm concerned.

[Edd Grayson]

I like the Reeve films and I like Man of Steel. There, I said it.

[Wayne49]

I don't know why this was brought up, but as someone who doesn't really like or care about those movies that much, I can say that I don't find a single ounce of the movie worth talking about and that it's conclusion and whatever point it was trying to make made no sense and wasn't well developed. The Zod killing scene is an issue where the problem isn't what it was, but how it was done, why it was done and the fact that it's utterly pointless in the film and leaves a whiplash inducing shift. The film didn't fail financially, but as writing it was mediocre.

I can see that. Nobody seemed to mind Superman torturing and then killing Zod in Superman II but that's small details, I guess.

The breed of "fan" I referred to in my post has this borderline psychotic hatred of everything that isn't the Reeve Superman. It gets to the point where I begin to suspect that they're fans of those movies but not Superman fans in general or DC fans in general. This is the type of fan I'm totally done with. They call FOADIAF as far as I'm concerned.

I think Reeve still remains the most enduring vision of Superman, but time will tell if that continues to hold up. I don't go into new films looking to bash anything that is not Reeves, but I'm also not going to pretend like I don't come from a different generation that fully celebrated him either. The one thing I've realized as I get older is that all of my choices and opinions that were once part of the mainstream narrative, are now becoming less relevant to the target audience that resides today. Often times we're not told when we fall out of that elite group the industry admires in this genre. But, like anything, I can either accept it or rebel against it. I choose to accept it and admire the qualities I DO like in this new iteration while frowning on some of the things I do not relate with. But there's no hate on my end. We all have to relate on different terms.