Ben Affleck is an interesting case study when it comes to live-action Batman actors. What happens when you have an extremely talented Batman actor trapped in subpar DC movies? It's a shame that Affleck is preparing to exit the DCEU without achieving his original goal of directing, co-writing and starring in a solo Batman film. But if nothing else, at least Affleck gave us a cinematic Batman who's every bit the inhuman force of nature he is in the comics.
In the penultimate chapter of our look at the ongoing hunt for the perfect cinematic Batman, we reexamine Affleck's imposing hero and how he successfully channels two of the most iconic incarnations of the Dark Knight. And be sure to check back soon, as we don't want to cap off this series without weighing in on Robert Pattinson's performance in The Batman.
Zack Snyder's The Dark Knight Returns
Every live-action Batman project has drawn from the comics to some degree, but with 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, director Zack Snyder truly wore his influences on his sleeve. BvS is undoubtedly the closest thing to a live-action adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns fans have ever gotten.
It's an interesting choice of Bat-fodder considering the film also marked Affleck's debut in the role. Every Batman movie franchise before was set in the prime of Bruce Wayne's costumed career. Even The Dark Knight Rises' Bruce was coming out of retirement after having only served as Batman for around a year. In a trilogy steeped in realism, the idea that Batman would be taken out of action by a bad knee is probably the most plausible thing that could have happened.
But while Affleck's Bruce Wayne is far older and more battle-scarred than most, he certainly doesn't come across as frail in BvS. The film finally achieves something that had proven elusive for decades- showcasing a Batman who truly looks, moves and fights like the one in the comics. This Batman isn't hamstrung by tightly fitting rubber suits. He doesn't employ the practical, defensive fighting of Christian Bale's Caped Crusader. This is a Batman who can clear entire rooms of criminals while shrugging off bullets and treating the laws of physics like mere suggestions.
Again, Affleck’s Batman is one very heavily inspired by the version seen in Frank Miller’s graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns – a hulking, middle-aged Bruce Wayne approaching his war on crime with a new level of ferocity. The DCEU Batsuit reflects that inspiration, finally giving fans a more comic book-inspired blend of gray and black. And whereas sculpted muscles helped sell the illusion of superhero physique in the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher movies, BvS shows just enough of Bruce's punishing training regimen to prove this is one Batman with the muscles to back it up.
That said, as much as Snyder's movies are clearly shaped by the work of Frank Miller, the most memorable action scene in BvS draws from a completely different source. Batman's one-man assault on KGBeast's warehouse is a fight scene straight out of the Arkham video games. It's a scene that shows off not just Batman's martial arts prowess, but also his strategic genius and his willingness to let fear and intimidation do half the work for him.
That scene is criticized (not wrongly) for painting Batman as a ruthless fighter who doesn't seem to mind committing the occasional act of manslaughter for the greater good. Are we really to believe the guy whose head was splattered between a wooden crate and a concrete wall got up and walked away from that fight? But even ignoring the fact that this cavalier attitude towards killing is sadly par for the course in Batman movies, there's at least a refreshing honesty about Batman's brutality in BvS. No one who makes a career out of bludgeoning goons into unconsciousness every night is going to get away without putting a few hundred people in the morgue. This Batman makes no excuses for himself.
Batman's Battle With Middle Age
The DCEU movies paint Batman as an almost supernatural force of nature, a vigilante who operates on a completely different plane from his many predecessors. It's not only a novel approach to Batman at the movies, it's a necessary one. Affleck's Batman is the first to actually share the screen with legitimate superhumans like Superman, Wonder Woman and Flash. We need a larger-than-life Batman if we're going to buy the idea that he can hold his own alongside the rest of the Justice League.
Ironically, though, no sooner does BvS set up the superhuman Dark Knight than Snyder and Joss Whedon begin deflating this carefully crafted image. The climax of BvS shows us a glimpse of a very different Batman – one rendered so helpless by the superior might of Doomsday he can do nothing but hide his face and wait for death, at least until Wonder Woman shows up to save him.
Then in Justice League, Diana alone is witness to Bruce's struggles with his ailing body and the effects a lifetime of abuse can have. Snyder's original cut of Justice League is superior in most respects, but it does lose something without that scene of Diana helping the bruised and exhausted Bruce fix his arm. It's an added reminder of Bruce's mortality.
DC Universe: Every Upcoming Movie and TV Show
This is ultimately what makes Affleck’ Batman really work is how that larger-than-life quality is balanced out by a sense of world-weariness. By the events of Justice League, Bruce has clearly entered the Roger Murtaugh phase of his costumed career. He's too old for this s***.
One of the most pleasant surprised in the Snyder Cut is seeing Affleck play Bruce as a man worn out and exasperated by the increasingly strange world around him. Just look at how he reacts to the emergence of Martian Manhunter at the end of the film. Bruce isn't happy to meet another powerful ally; he just wants to go back to bed. Even BvS hints at Bruce being a little fed up and a little too eager to dull the pain with alcohol and one-night stands.
As we’ve seen from films like Gone Girl, Affleck has a knack for playing smug, overconfident jerks who would rather be anywhere but here. That’s basically Affleck’s Bruce Wayne in a nutshell. Affleck gives us a version of Batman who’s still the bane of criminal scum everywhere, even if his sense of compassion and his love for the job died around the same time as his last sidekick. It would have been nice to see this Batman take center stage in his own movie, but we'll just have to trust Affleck that The Flash will give his character the sendoff he deserves.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.