I have heard many times that Ben Affleck’s Batman was originally going to be an older version of Christian Bale’s take on the character but Bale wasn’t keen to continue in the role.
Now, while I was never able to confirm this, it would make sense – the real-world approach to both franchises, the older take on Batman, the fact that the Wayne Industries logo being similar in Man of Steel and the Dark Knight Trilogy, the fact that there was no Batman standalone… there are many reasons that would fit the theory. Indeed, Bale has said in the past that he regets not continuing in the role (here).
And now Zack Snyder himself has thrown a pebble in the pond causing a ripple that may support the idea.
In a recent interview, Snyder confirms that at one stage there was an idea to bring Superman into Nolan’s Dark Knight universe – indeed Nolan was a producer on the Snyder DC movies.
“It was not 100 percent off the table,” Snyder told the Happy Sad Confused podcast, below.
“We did talk about it a little bit. The whole thing is that, I think that it’s difficult, and it would have been interesting because that would have meant, just doing the math, that the Batman – maybe that’s why we didn’t do it, that if we had done that the Batman in this movie would have been probably… It would’ve been Joseph [Gordon-Levitt]. Which could’ve been cool.”
Now, Snyder’s saying that the Batman in the story would have been Joseph Gordon-Levitt – who took on the mantle of the bat after Bruce retired/faked his death – is devastating to my Affleck hypothesis, but I like it and am sticking with it. Anyway, where were we?
“Also I think [Nolan] kind of, and I don’t blame him, I like that his thing doesn’t get muddied by these other… It’s a tight box and I’m glad I didn’t f@#k with it because it’s a pretty nice trilogy and I enjoy it,” Snyder added.
Nolan’s trilogy was a critical and commercial success, with The Dark Knight – which saw Heath Ledger’s iconic turn as the Joker – widely regarded as one of the best superhero movies of all time.
Now, personally, I love the Nolan movies and I think that Affleck is a better Batman than Bale – though I love him too, calm down – but I like the idea, and it’s explored in Snyder’s movies and is sort of the drive behind Batman’s rage, that Bruce Wayne/Batman understood the world; there were no aliens threatening his world, just villains with delusions of grandeur until suddenly Superman arrives and everything changes.
And I think Bale’s (Gordon-Levitt’s) Batman could have adjusted to that, much like Affleck’s Batman did… much like Tony Stark in the MCU started off fighting other humans and by the end was saving the universe, battling aliens on a daily basis. If handled well, this could have worked.
But, alas, it was never to be. But, as fans, we like to dwell in what could have been, don’t we?
Let me know your thoughts.
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