5 Reasons Why: Ben Affleck Was the Best Batman on Film
Welcome everyone to the newest feature here at Coming Soon. ‘5 Reasons Why’ is dedicated to featuring and defending a controversial topic that is sure to spark a healthy debate among readers. The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of this writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Comingsoon.net, Mandatory.com, Crave Online or any of its other subsidiaries.
When Ben Affleck finally announced on the Jimmy Kimmel Show that he would no longer be portraying Batman in future installments, there was a myriad of different emotions. Some people were unbelievably happy. Others were undeniably sad. But nobody, it seems, was surprised. Putting personal feelings aside, Affleck’s turn as The Batman was not a successful one. That does not mean it wasn’t a “good” one, however. Ben Affleck played Batman in 2.5 movies. All of those movies were critically scorned. None of them made as much money as they could/should have and Justice League has to go down as one of Hollywood’s biggest missed opportunities. None of that was due to Affleck’s performance, though.
5) He Was Angry
There two scenes in The Dark Knight Trilogy in which Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne showed hints of anger. In Batman Begins, Wayne told his mentor, Ra’s Al Ghul, that his anger outweighed his guilt. Similarly, in The Dark Knight Rises, Wayne is finally able to pull himself out of (definitely not the) Lazarus Pit, because he’s not afraid anymore — he’s angry. Ben Affleck’s Batman, on the other hand, is angry throughout all of his movies! And why shouldn’t he be angry? His parents were killed when he was a kid and now he’s on a futile mission to stop the same thing from happening to other kids. Batman is supposed to be an angry hero and Ben Affleck portrayed that anger perfectly.
4) He Looked the Part
Looks aren’t everything. But there has never been a better looking Batman on film. And it wasn’t just because of the suit, either. Ben more than did his part with his rigorous workout routines, as well as his diet. Dude looked jacked. Add to that the most comic-accurate bat-suit, as well as an extremely pronounced jawline, and you have the makings of the prototypical Batman.
3) The Mystery of The Batman
To be fair, this was more of a writer/director decision than Affleck’s own, but there was a lot of mystery surrounding The Batman of BVS, Suicide Squad and Justice League. Fans spent hours upon hours dissecting the psyche of Ben Affleck’s Batman. Why is he so angry? What happened to Wayne Manor? Which Robin was killed and why? Does Batman have a drinking problem? Those were just questions that arose during Batman v Superman. Unfortunately, they are questions that will probably never be answered, given the upcoming ‘soft reboot’ of DC Films. That aside, however, there was a lot of depth to Affleck’s Batman. He was, very clearly, a broken man.
2) That Fight Scene Tho
This is not only the greatest Batman fight scene of all time; it’s one of the greatest movie fight scenes, period. It has been compared to a scene straight out of the Arkham video game series and it’s easy to see why. Affleck (and his stunt double, Richard Cetrone, whose contributions should not be overlooked) moves fluidly from criminal to criminal, just like in a video game. Batman is relentless, as he mercilessly breaks arms and spirits all to save Superman’s mom, Martha.
1) He Defied All Expectations
Much like the Bat-Men before him (specifically Michael Keaton), Ben Affleck received tremendous backlash when he was announced as the next Dark Knight. That is because Ben Affleck defied all expectations with his portrayal of Batman. He was the best (only good?) part of Batman v Superman and he took part in some of the best Batman moments ever put to screen. Affleck brought a dark, angry, tormented and vulnerable version of Batman to the big screen and that is just one of the reasons why Ben Affleck was the best on-screen Batman.
