"Nobody tweeted about ‘Casablanca,’ and look at how they did," Ben Affleck joked to the LA Times about the chatter surrounding "Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice." Indeed, it hasn’t been the smoothest of rides for Warner Bros. upcoming tentpole, but as far as Zack Snyder is concerned, he’s just happy that the movie is in the pop-culture conversation.
READ MORE: Is ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice’ In Trouble?
"The tweets, comments, articles, blogs — it’s insanity. I tune it out to the extent that, when it’s really dumb, then we go, ‘OK, someone stomp this [rumor] because it’s stupid.’ But mostly I just go, ‘Thank God they’re talking about the movie.’ The fact that they care enough to get online and either rage or praise — that’s just cool for the culture, for the fans," the director said.
‘Dawn Of Justice’ has the challenge of bringing the grounded character of Batman into a world that has much more fantastical characters, but Snyder believes he’s struck a balance that makes sense. "[The idea] was born from a conversation about what to do with Superman [after ‘Man of Steel‘], what to face Superman off against next. I was also really interested in expanding the comic book universe. I think Chris [Nolan] did an amazing job with those three Batman movies he did, but to me those worlds are very self-contained. If Green Lantern came into the Dark Knight movies, you’d be like, ‘That’s weird,’ " he said.
For Affleck, stepping into the iconic role presented a challenge, but he was sold by Snyder’s presentation. "What I liked about Zack’s vision for it is that it’s sort of an existential Batman. He’s a guy who’s not actually in the throes of being Batman but looking back and asking himself, ‘Was it worth it?’ He’s a graying Batman and more of a slugger and more of a man because he’s more vulnerable. He’s feeding some hole inside him — [burning a brand into] criminals at night, going to these underground fights, having some woman in his bed from some random encounter. He’s functioning, but not in a healthy way. He’s a haunted and broken guy," the actor explained.
As for the continuing rumors that Affleck will direct and star in a solo Batman outing, he remains cagey, telling The New York Times, “If there comes a point that I want to do Batman, and there’s a script and it works, then I’ll do it.” Translation: he’s going to wait and see how this film is received first, before committing any further to the DC Films universe.
"Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice" opens on March 25th. Check out a new featurette below plus some interviews and brief new clips.
Courtesy of the great @ChrisRa7en, new #BatmanvSuperman party dialogue! #BenAffleck being the perfect #BruceWayne! pic.twitter.com/aSyICMcvF0
— DCEU Facts (@dceufacts) March 14, 2016
