Michael Uslan, who has been the producer of every Batman film since the 1989 Tim Burton classic, recently sat down with EP Daily to talk about the new Batman vs. Superman film, and Ben Affleck as Batman in particular. After giving some reassuring words about Zack Snyder as a director with the characters of Batman and Superman’s best interests in mind (“he loves these characters as much as any of us do”), Uslan revealed some of the reasoning behind the choice to cast Affleck as Batman.
“It starts with this, I’ve lived this in the past before and I’m speaking now really more as a Bat-fan than as the Bat-producer. We went through it all with Michael Keaton. I lead the charge from the first time I heard Tim (Burton) was thinking of hiring Michael Keaton to play Batman. I’d go, ‘Oh my god, all the work, I’ve put in all these years to do a dark and serious Batman, he’s going to hire a comedian!’ I could envision the posters: ‘Mr. Mom is Batman,’ but then he explained his vision, he had a vision, and he was right. This is all about Bruce Wayne, it’s not about Batman, it’s all about Bruce Wayne. If you’re trying to do a serious, dark superhero, people have to believe in Bruce Wayne as that obsessed driven guy, to the point maybe of almost being psychotic. A guy who would get dressed up as a bat and do what he did. So we went through the hoopla with Michael Keaton. The fans were the same reaction that I had initially, except I had the benefit of hearing a vision right away. Then when they actually went to see the movie they never wanted to anyone else to play Batman, never.”
“A number of years go by, and then all of a sudden the torches and the pitchforks go up, ‘oh my god, the guy that played the gay cowboy is going to be The Joker? They’re going to destroy the greatest super villain in history. And then after Heath Ledger’s performance, when they actually went to see it, nobody ever wanted The Joker played by another actor again. So here we are, with an academy award winning filmmaker. You look at his last bunch of movies, Hollywoodland he had me convinced he was George Reeves. The Town, Argo, just really, really great quality of work. Again, I’ll go back to what Tim said in the beginning, it’s all about Bruce Wayne, and when you focus on it, Bruce Wayne, maybe in his mid-forties, what’s he going to be feeling? What’s he going to be thinking? What does he have on his plate to deal with? I just couldn’t be more excited about it.”
Do Uslan’s words put you more at ease over the Batman vs. Superman casting choices, or are you still concerned about “Batfleck”? Let us know in the comments!
Source: SuperheroHype
