Ben Affleck is Batman

[The Laughing Fish]

Excuse me if I went a little out of focus there, but nowadays, I'm convinced discourse surrounding pop culture is so dishonest and poisoned more than ever, to the point I don't believe it can be recovered. We can thank "people" like Gerry Conway for that.

Following up my previous post, I found this piece of idiocy from some nobody on Twitter, who responded to a BvS fan tweeting about Batman's character arc in BvS. I wasn't even the person who made these original tweets, but the disingenuity astounds me that I can't help but write about it:

https://twitter.com/dc_connections/status/1110660694804844545

People want to see him approach that line but you go too far if you actually cross it. I'm immediately disinterested when that happens

Don't me laugh. I don't see how anything Batman did in BvS crossed the line any more than, say, blowing up Axis Chemicals full of Joker goons or blowing up an entire temple of temple full of people despite refusing to execute a prisoner, who likely died in the blast too. And walked away without a care in the world about it despite his supposed moral convictions.

You're better off saying "This is Zach's vision. You guys are scared of change and creativity."

No one willl take you seriously if you say "All versions of Batman mowed people down with machine guns and missile launchers. They're all the same."

Your approach could use work

Translation: people like me are going to hypocritically make excuses for Batman's actions in other movies, and adopt double standards because we say so, and ignore the merits of Batman's character arc in this movie. And blatantly ignore the fact a certain interpretation expressed his so-called stance against guns.

Spilt whatever hairs you need to. I just gave a reason for your initial tweet

Pointing out people's double standards for forgiving other portrayals over killing isn't "splitting hairs", you delusional idiot. But I guess this is what happens when people refuse to honestly assess the character in live action for so long, they'll be conditioned to come up with such metal gymnastics to justify why other interpretations can get away with criticism for killing, despite their supposed contempt for Batman doing so under any circumstances. What a bunch of hypocritical liars.

And besides, if Batman's violent conduct was played down, his character arc wouldn't be twice as meaningful as it is. There's no way to emphasise with somebody who renews a sense of optimism, gratitude and hope if he didn't fall in a dark place to begin with, never mind overcome.

[The Laughing Fish]

If Burton, Schumacher and Nolan are allowed to exist, Snyder is as well.

Herein lies the problem: Snyder wasn't allowed to exist any further. You see, whether you like it or not, the movie by Matt Reeves is predicated on the popular narrative that "Zack Snyder single-handedly destroyed the DCEU" and he "didn't get Batman". Because of the very same "sins" people hypocritically praised other Batman movies for having. Sadly, this is NOT going to change any time soon - not unless more people start reflecting and engaging with the material honestly. Always keep that in mind if you do go see the Reeves movie.

I have no love for Warner whatsoever, but as bad and treacherous as that corporation is for their conduct over the last couple of years, online media and brainless masses played their part in sabotaging Affleck's portrayal and JL too. Don't be naive, had people been more intellectually honest and apply a consistent standard when it comes to Batman and Superman for all adaptations AND didn't blow things out of proportion in regards to BvS, things would've been much different, and Warner wouldn't have sabotaged JL in a misguided attempt to make more money. But because criticising DC's shared universe was a hip thing to do, the corporation thought they were going to give mass audiences what they wanted. Instead, they were still ridiculed. This goes to show JL was always going to be piled-on no matter what. Narrative drives online traffic when it comes to film. Not intellectual honesty or even genuine enjoyment, it seems.

Unfortunately, once again, if a movie pays lip service to a certain ideal and it makes them "feel good", people will overlook any deficiency in the story i.e. if the character keeps breaking a rule, doesn't matter, as long as he says what he believes - not what he does. That's the problem. They only care about sentiment, but they don't care about real character development. People love to talk about how "dark" Batman is, but they don't want to see him actually going down that dark road and slowly pulling himself back together again, because he didn't pretend to subscribe to supposed beliefs that made him separate from criminals. I'll say it again, the concept of "actions speaking louder than words" is unheard of to a lot of these people.

Bruce may have he said "Men are still good" in BvS, but judging by people's reaction towards people involved in the production of this movie, he's wrong. Warner sucks, but something else sucks. Like...the public.



Finally, this is what Jay Oliva told that self-described "Chris Nolan butt-kisser" on Twitter in regards to the scrapped Affleck script.



To everyone who has been disappointed with this whole ordeal but still want to see what Reeves does, good luck. More power to you. You know where I stand.

[thecolorsblend]

Looks like Jay Oliva responded to Jett from BOF. Honestly, dignifying that maroon with any kind of response is simply never a good idea for someone in Oliva's position. I think Jett has enough ego problems as it is without attracting attention from someone of Oliva's station.

To the point though, Oliva logically would've had access to Affleck's Batman script. He's a director in his own right. So if someone like Oliva says the script is good then the script must have been good, period. It's a crying shame that we'll never get to see the movie it would've resulted in.

[The Laughing Fish]

To the point though, Oliva logically would've had access to Affleck's Batman script. He's a director in his own right. So if someone like Oliva says the script is good then the script must have been good, period. It's a crying shame that we'll never get to see the movie it would've resulted in.

As you can see in the screenshot, Joe Manganiello endorsed Oliva's comments with a big tick. He's obviously another person who had belief in the material, since he was cast as Deathstroke. Sadly, it seems his cameo in the JL post-credit scene will remain his only appearance. Yet another reason why I won't be giving any more money to Warner's theatrical movies. If those hacks really didn't want to pursue with Affleck's script then they should never have wasted Manganiello's time in the first place. It's yet another example of that corporation's gross mismanagement.

Jay Oliva is a true professional and a gentleman who has always supported and encouraged the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement. Yes, it is beneath him to answer to trolls and deceitful agenda-driven bloggers. But thanks to him, he is giving fans the inspiration to fight back against negative narratives, and never give up fighting for the true vision of JL to see the light of day. He is a real artist.

[The Laughing Fish]

I found this passage below by The Hollywood Reporter. Judging by the sound of it, Affleck was gradually getting pushed out from playing Batman, and Warner Bastards nor Matt Reeves ever wanted him to return.

Reeves, who was hired to write and direct a new Batman movie in February 2017, was envisioning actors while penning the script, according to sources familiar with the filmmaker's thinking. It helped that this new Batman needed to conform to a defined age bracket. He is written as around 30 years old, and the story is neither another rehashing of his origin nor the tale of a seasoned crimefighter ruling Gotham City. He is Bruce Wayne still trying to find his footing on his way to becoming the genius detective.

This, of course, eliminated Ben Affleck, as THR first reported back in July 2017. (Affleck and Warner Bros. denied the recasting at the time because the actor, who had played the role in Batman v Superman and Justice League, was to have headlined his own stand-alone movie that was sidelined when the studio began rethinking its superhero strategy.)

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/how-robert-pattinson-became-batman-1215438?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral

When I shared that 2017 video of Reeves saying Affleck would reprise the role for the solo movie last week, my initial thought was maybe the studio made him lie because of PR reasons leading up to JL. But the cynic in me did suspect he might've played a part in his departure. Now reading this article has made that lie even worse.

How wonderful. We go from Affleck congratulating Reeves for getting the job on Twitter, and then this is what happens. Just when I thought my disinterest and antipathy for the Reeves movie couldn't increase any further.


So, not only did the gutless studio decided to reshoot JL and still refuse to release the real version by Snyder to this day, it decided to scrap Affleck's vision too. Affleck may have said he couldn't "crack" the script in the last Jimmy Kimmel appearance, but that must've been a PR spin to save face for Warner because it doesn't match Oliva's praise for his script.

And if that's not enough, a few days ago Oliva claimed he had been involved in the development for Affleck's story, presumably for storyboarding:

I did not just "read" it, I was actively working on with alongside Ben and Geoff Johns for a few months. I was working on the ending when I was pulled off to do reshoots for WW as they worked on a new draft of Ben's script. So I should know what I'm talking about.

https://twitter.com/jayoliva1/status/1135595069266776064

The Wonder Woman reshoots that Oliva is referring to took place in November 2016.
https://screenrant.com/wonder-woman-gal-gadot-reshoots-pregnant/

As a sidenote: I've seen a lot of fans pointing out at Geoff Johns as being instrumental in derailing Snyder's continuity and shake-up of the franchise, since he was executive producer at DC Films and was one of four producers for JL. Allegedly, he was one of the biggest advocates for the JL reshoots, had a hand in the rewrites of WW and other films, and many will certainly get irked that Johns had involvement in Affleck's script. I have no idea how much sway he has, or if he was just a yes-man. Call me naive, but all I know is Warner Butchers - as a whole - burned too many bridges with their broken promises, lies and terrible PR management, and everybody at management and executive level are all responsible for putting everybody in this predicament.

Finally, a fan remade this 80th Anniversary poster on social media, which didn't include Affleck (or Keaton, for that matter). Quite fitting under the circumstances.

[thecolorsblend]

Judging by the sound of it, Affleck was gradually getting pushed out from playing Batman, and Warner Bastards nor Matt Reeves ever wanted him to return.

It's hard to say who decided it was time for Affleck to leave: WB or Affleck himself. I could see it either. It may even have been a mutual decision.

There are some practical realities to deal with here. One of them is that Affleck was legit aging out of the role the day he signed on for BVS. He would've had to have been replaced sooner or later anyway. Sooner is my bet. It's doubtful he would've been able to renew his contract once he'd reached his cap on the number of films he had to be in.

In the end, maybe the real tragedy is that Affleck signed up to play Batman maybe six or seven years later than would have been preferable. Yeah, that would've conflicted with Nolan's trilogy but the fact remains that Affleck is amazing as Batman and by all rights we should've gotten at least two or three more movies out of him in the role before he called it a day.

As it stands now, he's got one magnificent Batman film, one horrible Batman film and one semi-forgettable Batman cameo under his belt. He deserved better and he deserved more. And so did the fans.

Alas...

[The Laughing Fish]

To me, all of that is besides the point. The fact of the matter is Warner no longer wanted to pursue with Affleck's script, and the DCEU suddenly became something he didn't sign up for. Or rather, exists in name only. Especially JL, and especially what Reeves actually had in mind, if we are lead to believe from what this article says. Basically, everything associated with Snyder, with the exception of Wonder Woman and Aquaman, was thrown away.

[The Laughing Fish]

To the point though, Oliva logically would've had access to Affleck's Batman script. He's a director in his own right. So if someone like Oliva says the script is good then the script must have been good, period. It's a crying shame that we'll never get to see the movie it would've resulted in.

I'm revisiting this because cinematographer Robert Richardson had this to say while he debunked reports claiming he was hired to work for the Matt Reeves movie:

"I woke up this morning to a slew of text messages, 'Congratulations, I didn't know you were shooting Batman.' I was highly perplexed," he said. "The closest part of reality is that when Ben Affleck was going to direct, I was going to shoot. But I don't know how that got moved into this space."

Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/cinematographer-robert-richardson-denies-he-is-shooting-batman-1225445

If Affleck stayed on and was allowed to make his movie, Richardson would've been the Director of Photography. It appears the movie was getting closer to pre-production before it got scrapped.

Warner Butchers, once again, you've proven to me how sh*t you really are.

[The Laughing Fish]

Affleck spoke to GQ on camera the other day to look back at his most famous roles, and he spoke very fondly of his experience with BvS. As well as expressing his disappointment in JL, albeit choosing his words rather carefully.

I love how unapologetic and passionate he was for BvS. You can tell he was totally on board with Snyder's vision not only for that film, but for JL and beyond...until those Warner hacks took it away from the director in the most despicable way imaginable. It makes Affleck's support for the Snyder cut and insisting its availability all the more admirable. It also makes me want to kick myself harder for ever doubting his integrity.

[thecolorsblend]

I think it's always telling when somebody's co-workers are still supportive of them years later. Seems like nobody who has actually worked with Snyder has negative things to say about Snyder. He comes off like a cool guy in interviews but that's easy to fake. Genuine loyalty from authentic Oscar-winners says it all for me.

By comparison, Brandon Routh spent the three or four years after the release of Superman Returns as a fairly dependable companyman for Warner Bros, the Superman franchise, Bryan Singer, etc. Everything was always rah-rah let's make another type stuff.

More recently, though, Routh was on Michael Rosenbaum's podcast. You could tell that he was being somewhat diplomatic but he made it pretty clear that working with Singer wasn't necessarily the high point of his career. He still has a lot of affection for the character itself but Singer, specifically... well, not so much.

Anyway, point being that if Affleck still gets excited talking about Snyder's original plan after all these years and after everything Affleck himself has been through, yeah, I'd say something about Snyder inspires a lot of loyalty. Cool guy.