When Ben Affleck first signed on to play Batman in Zack Snyders upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, fans (including myself) were quick to point out that the film won't be the first time that the actor/director has tried to play a legendary comic book character. Back in 2003 he was hired to play the titular character in director Mark Steven Johnson's Daredevil, and while that movie was successful at the box office, it's not exactly one of the best examples of the superhero genre. Surely Affleck has been reminded of this constantly since becoming the new Dark Knight, but the reality is that he has a lot of regrets about that particular title and has no interest in repeating any element of it in Batman v Superman.
The subject of Daredevil and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice came up in a recent interview NPR did with Ben Affleck, and during the conversation the filmmaker admitted that he doesn't look back too fondly on the first time he stepped into a superhero costume. Asked if he had any trepidations about taking on the new comic book part after the experience of Daredevil, Affleck said,
"Indeed I have regrets about Daredevil. I have regrets about all the movies that I don't think were executed properly. ... Look, if I thought we were remaking Daredevil, I'd be out there picketing myself ... and that goes for other movies as well that I haven't been happy with."
He added that he has very high expectations for himself and that, as a result, he's hard on himself when he doesn't succeed. But that only serves to motivate him to try harder. And while Daredevil didn't turn out as he would have hoped, he has a great deal of confidence in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - largely because he has tremendous faith in the talented people that he is working with. Specifically pointing to Zack Snyder (who he calls an "incredibly magical sort of visual stylist") and screenwriter Chris Terrio (who he worked with on Argo), Affleck said that he is working with a "sandwich of talents" and that he felt "very confident about it." Given the way that expectations have risen for comic book movies since 2003, hopefully the film really steps up its game.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is still in production, with Affleck and his co-stars Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jesse Eisenberg, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, and Jeremy Irons hard at work up in Detroit. Even when filming has finished, though, we will still have to wait a long time to actually see the finished result, as Warner Bros. won't be releasing the movie until March 25, 2016.
