Justice League Has A 'More Traditional Batman'

Screen Rant

Ben Affleck Says Justice League Has A 'More Traditional Batman'

By Corey Hoffmeyer

Published Aug 16, 2017

Ben Affleck has promises that Justice League will see Bruce Wayne/Batman become more like his traditional comic book counterpart.

Ben Affleck is promising fans that a Batman closer to the comics will be featured in the upcoming Justice League DC Extended Universe film. When Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice opened in theaters last year, Affleck’s portrayal as the iconic Batman character was mostly embraced by fans and critics (even if most of the rest of the film proved more divisive) though not without certain reservations. For instance, director Zack Snyder’s decision to have the caped crusader use lethal force against adversaries was widely criticized by comic purists (though Snyder has defended this decision).

With this said, the less-than-stellar reception to Batman V Superman mixed with Affleck no longer being attached to direct a Batman solo film, rumors have persisted that Affleck could be making a swift exit from the DCEU (the latest rumor possibly pointing toward this comes from none other than Affleck’s brother Casey) following Justice League. Regardless of Affleck’s future with the character, Affleck has now revealed that Justice League’s Batman will see the character returning to his heroic comic book roots.

Speaking with EW, Affleck revealed that while Batman V Superman may have deviated from traditional Batman lore, Justice League will see the character calmed down from the rage-filled Bruce Wayne that fans saw in Batman V Superman. On how Batman differs from that film, Affleck had this to say:

“[Batman] started out with all this rage directed at Superman, because of his coworkers who had died in the fight Superman had with Zod. He was holding on to a lot of anger, in a little bit of an irrational way. Whereas this is a much more traditional Batman. He’s heroic. He does things in his own way, but he wants to save people, help people.”

While this is encouraging for comic fans in and of itself, Affleck also promised that Justice League would be respecting more established comic book lore relating to Batman and how he’s been traditionally portrayed in comics and film. This certainly opens up the doors for fans to finally see a more detective-oriented Batman (current solo Batman director Matt Reeves has promised his film will embrace this side of the character) and obviously, it should be a nice contrast to the moody Batman found in Batman V Superman.

Though there are a subset of fans who have called Affleck one of the more accurate portrayals of the character in film history (especially for his comic accurate size and fighting style), Justice League could prove to be the first real test for Affleck portraying a more canon-like Batman as well as possibly help him win over fans who are still not convinced due to his murderous actions in Batman V Superman. Though if Justice League does prove to end up being Affleck’s last time in the batsuit, it sounds like he’ll at least go out playing a version of the character fans have come to expect.