Ben Affleck as Batman? It could work ... if Zack Snyder doesn't get in the way!

The big casting news out of Hollywood today is that Ben Affleck is our next Batman!

"I'm Batman." 

(Photo from Wikipedia)

Yep, he will play Batman in the new "Man of Steel" sequel, directed by Zack Snyder.

The Internet has gone predictably crazy, as it does every time that someone is cast in a big movie. Many, many fanboys and fangirls turned into Comic Book Guy:

"Worst. Batman. Ever."

(Photo from Wikipedia)

But that's to be expected. They could cast Bruce Wayne himself as Batman and there would be a crop of complaining fanboys and fangirls.

Me, I'm happy about Ben Affleck as Batman, because I love him and I think he has the potential to do a great job. Yes, yes, I know about "Daredevil," a particularly terrible comic book movie in which he starred. However, I've watched Affleck's career pretty closely, and, in general, he's a pretty great actor. He can be serious and dark, but he has some comedy chops that I hope they utilize in the movie. I know the trend, thanks to Christopher Nolan, is to have Batman be a super dark, super tortured vigilante, but I actually really love Michael Keaton as Batman in the Tim Burton movies from 1989 and 1992. I like that quirky, dark humor, because, let's face it, it is kind of hilarious and ridiculous that a rich guy dresses up in a rubber bat suit and mask to fight crime.

The thing I'm worried about in the whole thing is that Zack Snyder is directing the movie! Let's face it, "Man of Steel" was a fairly terrible movie. It had great casting, but Snyder did absolutely nothing with it. The story was predictable, the romance between Clark & Lois came out of nowhere, and the interminable final battle scene was an epic snoozefest. The visual effects were bad and dark. It pretty much stunk as a movie. 

I know it did well at the box office, but there is no way that Zack Snyder should get another shot at it. In fact, despite the fact he directed "Watchmen," which was a pretty solid piece of filmmaking, Snyder should never be let near a movie again after the abomination unto filmmaking called "Suckerpunch." He could have redeemed himself with "Man of Steel," but he didn't.

So, I guess, in a way, I'm not happy about Ben Affleck being cast as Batman in the "Man of Steel" sequel, because I'd like to see what Affleck could do with the character under a competent director. He wasn't on my list of people I'd like to see play Batman (everyone has a list like that just sitting around, right?), but I think he could be a really interesting, good choice. I'm just gonna roll with it and see what happens.