Ben Affleck Doesn’t Wish To Compete With “Other Incarnations” Of Batman
When it comes to superheroes in media, more or less any media, there are those who are going to want the version they love to stay prevalent, or how they remember them. This is hard, because eventually the show will end, a “reboot” may occur, or a writer will leave the series that made it special in their eyes, allowing new talent to tell new stories.
For the movies, the Dark Knight Trilogy by Christopher Nolan, which had Batman played by Christian Bale, is still fresh in peoples’ minds. So fresh in fact that they are worried that Ben Affleck, who will play Batman in Batman V Superman, Justice League, and possibly other DC Comics films, will “ruin” the legacy that was set by the ones before.
In an interview wtih Studio Cine Live, and noted by ComicBook.com, Ben Affleck notes that he is in no way competing with previous version of Batman, as this Batman is in a universe that he does not solely have:
“I don’t want to compete with other incarnations, nor do I want to emulate them,” Affleck told Studio Ciné Live. “Those versions belong in another universe. Christopher Nolan used his Batman to tell a finite story. My version is different, but remains faithful to the Batman mythology and all the themes associated with it. The other difference is that Nolan’s Batman isn’t part of a universe where other superheroes exist as well. Here – because we’re working towards the Justice League – there’s Superman, and it’s a world populated with super beings. This situation generates an altogether new reality.”
He also notes that his take on Bruce Wayne is very different from previous versions, especially Christian Bale’s take:
“We also play a bit more with the billionaire playboy side of the character,” Affleck explained. “He lives that life at full tilt. He courts many women, owns many cars, and parties a lot. He does that as a way to fill the void in his soul. Moreover, past incarnations dealt with a straightforward search for justice. This time, Batman’s reasoning is clouded by frustration, bitterness and anger.”
We’ll have to see how different the take will be when Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice arrives on March 25, 2016.