FROM CLOONEY TO AFFLECK: BATMAN ADVICE

It's been reported, and I guess made official, that Ben Affleck is the new Batman and will star in the sequel to Man of Steel. I like Ben Affleck, I thought he was okay as Daredevil and I thought he did a great job playing George Reeves in Hollywoodland. I think that Affleck is not really the guy for the Batman role. Affleck just isn't that brooding, even when he did Daredevil it seemed like he was forcing his tortured portion. I am also assuming he got some advice from George Clooney and that advice was probably dispensed over drinks in a hot tub with Danny DeVito. I assume the conversation went like this:

Clooney: So they finally found someone worthy of my role.

Affleck: Yeah, wicked awesome.

Clooney: You have a challenge ahead of you, my nipple Batman was incredible.

Affleck: Irregardless I will be be the man.

Clooney: Who will be Superman?

Affleck: That Henry bastard, he's wicked good.

Clooney: Who will be Alfred?

Affleck: Either Mel Gibson or Bob Saget.

DeVito: Hey fuckers Rhea can be a great Catwoman.

Clooney: Remember the suits must always have nipples. Any word on Matt?

Affleck: He may play the part of The Demon.

Clooney: Hahahah, fantastic.

I'm sure that's not really what happened but when you think of the fact that George Clooney and Ben Affleck teamed up to bring back the porno beard, anything can happen. Batman is a popular character but it takes a special kind of person to pull it off. I thought Bale was good even though he gave Batman some serious throat cancer. Let's see what happens down the line, good luck to Ben Affleck.

NO ONE CAN BEAT THE BATMAN STORY

When a story and it's main character can undergo a million transformations and still stand the test of time you know it's something special. I am speaking specifically about Batman in light of the recent announcement of DC's transformation of the Batman mythology. The fact is that if you are a true follower of Batman's then you have seen a broken Batman, a scarred Batman, a despondent Batman, and just about every emotion in the depressive spectrum. 

What makes the character special is the way that duplicitous nature of Bruce Wayne plays out.The character can trick so many people into thinking he is a vapid playboy when he is really a brooding, stubborn, untrusting, tormented soul. The way the character is written in almost every comic book and film makes him impossible to completely love and hate. Batman creates that ambivalence that does not fully lend itself to a complete devotion to the hero or complete hatred for his sometimes antagonistic behavior. What is special about the bat? 

The fact is that unlike Superman, who is a capitalist democracy boy scout, Batman believes in order at any cost. The single time that Superman subscribed to that belief was during Kingdom Come. While Superman was portrayed as a Reganite puppet in the latest DC animated feature Batman was portrayed as a hero taken to limits, putting himself in a self impose underground exile in order to continue his work as a maligned but effective protector of a city that has lost the understanding of peace and civilization.

As a rogue hero willing to kick the crap out of Superman while almost sacrificing himself and as an all out juggernaut willing to take every enemy of society to an ungodly limit one thing is for sure, Batman really kicks ass.