Ben Affleck Batman: Actor Speaks Out on Negative Casting Reaction, Decision to Take Role on 'Late Night With Jimmy Fallon' VIDEO
Ben Affleck may have received quite a bit of backlash from Batman fans recently, but it wasn't anything he hadn't been prepared for.
The Academy Award-winning actor/writer/director is set to star was the Caped Crusader in the Man of Steel sequel, Batman vs. Superman. Affleck spoke to Late Night's Jimmy Fallon about landing the role and the subsequent backlash from fans.
"They called me up and said, 'Do you want to do this?'" Affleck said. "I said...'I'm not 25, man. Are you sure about this?'"
Despite his age (the Argo actor is now 41 years old) and his doubts, Affleck went down to the studio to see what the role was all about.
"It was incredible," Affleck said of the concept for the film. "Zach Snyder's directing and he has this incredible take on it. Obviously you can't do what Christian [Bale] did, those movies are amazing, so he wasn't to do something different but still in keeping with that. I thought, 'This is a brilliant way to do this and I really know how to hook into this.'"
However, after Affleck was on board with the film, his agent pulled him aside to try and prepare him for the inevitable barrage of fan reactions that is standard fare when a new actor is cast in a beloved role.
"[They said], 'People go through this process and it can be trying so we want to show you some of the reactions that past people who have been cast have gotten on the Internet.'" Affleck explained. "So they sent me [reactions to] people who were in these movies that did a good job and people were like 'Kill them!'"
While Affleck figured he could take what ever was thrown at him, a trip onto the Internet following the casting announcement quickly changed his mind and he decided to become a Luddite until the storm blew over.
"It doesn't matter what people think then, it matters what you think when you see the movie," Affleck said, seemingly unworried about fans' negative reactions.
Batman vs. Superman is set for a July 17, 2015 release from DC Entertainment.
