While Ben Affleck‘s future as Batman remains in doubt thanks to his brother Casey Affleck re-opening the will he/won’t he argument about his participation in “The Batman,” the actor is keeping his game face on for “Justice League.” He did the required glad-handing at San Diego Comic Con for the movie, which is undergoing heavy reshoots, and now he tells EW that his Caped Crusader is going to be a bit more heroic and less angry this time around.
“ [‘Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice‘] departed a little bit from the traditional Batman,” Affleck said. “He 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,” Affleck added. “Whereas [‘Justice League’ has] a much more traditional Batman. He’s heroic. He does things in his own way, but he wants to save people, help people.”
It’s a pretty interesting pivot, but not wholly surprising, either, as Geoff Johns and DC Films continue to try and right the ship towards a sunnier vibe. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if some of Joss Whedon‘s job on the reshoots was to give Bruce Wayne some moments of heroism and levity. Certainly, it seems that the aim is to get something more in line with what fans grew up reading about Batman.
“This is more in keeping with the canon of how Batman’s usually been portrayed, and how he’s portrayed vis a vis the Justice League in the comics,” Affleck continued. “This is more the Batman you would find if you opened up your average Batman comic book.”
Certainly, a bit more texture to Bruce Wayne that barely contained anger will be nice. “Justice League” opens on November 17th.