Today might as well be called Justice League day, as news from the set of the film seems to be flooding the internet. Among all the stories is an interview with Ben Affleck, the current Hollywood version of the Caped Crusader, which he gave to several members of the press while walking off set. Mind you, Affleck still had some face makeup on (particularly the black eye shadow) that he dubbed his “Alice Cooper” look. IGN reported some of the questions and answers given in this exchange.
When asked if Batman will be any different in the new film, Affleck said:
[Batman] is little more man on a mission this time. As opposed to like he was [in BvS] so full of anger because of what happened at the Black Zero Event. That kind of character, that sort of rage that possessed him. And now he’s on a mission to get this group together. To constitute this League. But more of his, that sort of Bruce Wayne, wry, ironic gallows humor comes out. He’s not like a ‘haha’ jokey, but that sort of stuff comes out a little bit. A bit of his sort of darker humor stuff is present.
Affleck continued by stating a return to form for Batman’s detective strengths:
The world’s greatest detective aspect of Batman is more present in this story than it was in the last one, and will probably be expanded upon further in a Batman movie that I would do. I think all the great Batman stories are, at their heart, detective stories. That’s why they feel like noir movies in a way. Somehow feels like it could be The Maltese Falcon. But at their heart good Batman stories are, like I said, detective stories.
One of the other reporters went on to ask Affleck how Batman will react to new threats like Steppenwolf (who appear in the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice deleted scene with Lex), Mother Boxes, and flying Parademons. Affleck responded:
It’s not so ‘I’m getting too old for this s**t.’ It’s more like, ‘I need help with this s**t.’ It’s like, guys, we’re getting way out of his league. It’s definitely stepping up to the level you know, in the comic books when you have a lot of things from other planets, other supervillains that are way more powerful than your average human being who’s got a Batarang and a grappling hook is equipped to deal with. So we’re able to explore the powers of these other heroes and what they can do. Which is pretty exceptional too. If you want to be able to use the powers of Flash and Wonder Woman and Cyborg, you have to have bad guys who are up to snuff and give them what they can.
Finally, Affleck addressed some of the controversy over Batman’s violent tactics in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and what’s in store for Justice League:
Batman definitely went to a very dark place that was rooted in trauma that occurred to people that he loved and worked with and what he saw. This movie is not about that issue for him so much anymore. He’s no longer sort of extreme in that way. From the experiences of the last movie, he’s sort of learned and now he’s sort of – I’m trying to say it without giving away any spoilers – but he’s wanting to redeem himself and wanting mankind to be redeemed and he’s wanting to make the world better having learned lessons that were important in the last movie.
This looks like great news for comic fans, and certainly adds to the hype of the upcoming DC Comics films. Justice League arrives on November 17th, 2017.