If you need help digesting the news that Ben Affleck has been cast to play Batman in the 2015 sequel to Man of Steel, feast upon the “true Hollywood story” above. In it, Kevin Smith relates the tale of how he came within a hairsbreadth of writing a Superman film which would have been directed by Batman auteur Tim Burton and starred Nicolas Cage as the super-powered Kryptonian. Smith demonstrates in entertaining detail the fundamental problem which plagues the development of big-budget blockbusters, namely executives and producers whose talents belong in the business office taking creative control of properties they know nothing about.
This almost happened.
While the overwhelming majority of reaction on social media to the news about Affleck as the Caped Crusader has been negative, the occasional Pollyanna pipes in to remind us of how we first reacted to the casting of Christian Bale in Batman Begins and Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Indeed, Affleck may surprise us all with an inspired performance none could reasonably expect. I’m not taking that bet though.
Some of the better reaction on Twitter:
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