Debate of the Day: Are You Optimistic or Pessimistic About Batman vs. Superman Now?
It’s been a whirlwind of casting choices for Batman vs. Superman over the last few months, and it appears all the major players have been set, barring any unforeseen mystery villains that might crop up. To recap we have:
Henry Cavill: Clark Kent/Superman
Amy Adams: Lois Lane
Ben Affleck: Bruce Wayne/Batman
Gal Gadot: Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
and now Jessie Eisenberg: Lex Luthor
And I guess Jeremy Irons as Alfred, but I don’t think anyone’s complaining about that. It’s Affleck, Gadot and Eisenberg that have been the most controversial choices. As for me, I’m pro-Eisenberg, I think that could be really cool, anti-Gadot because I think it’s risky to give someone so unproven such an important role in this film and future ones, and neutral on Affleck because he’s a great actor, but it has never stopped feeling like an odd choice. And I remain ever-skeptical of Snyder directing the whole thing, as he’s incredibly hit or miss. I think he’s the riskiest pieces of the puzzle here.
So, what about you?
I’m still excited!
I love the Eisenberg casting. I’m suspending any other judgements until I see Affleck in the suit or Gadot on screen. Gadot will certainly be better than whatever NBC tried to do with Adrienne Palicki and the failed WW TV series.
People need to realize… Lex doesn’t HAVE to be bald. He also doesn’t have to scream and yell and terrorize Superman like the comicky Gene Hackman (who wasn’t a bald Lex either) or Kevin Spacey did in their roles. He can be maniacal. Devious. Smart. Eisenberg will play this role in a whole new way and will have an opportunity to expand or change what people “think” they know about the Lex Luthor character. He’s talented and will do this right.
Snyder however… he is the wild card. I agree with you Paul. Has been since day 1. 300 was a visual masterpiece. But the pacing and dialogue was off. And that’s because he wrote it. Same goes for Sucker Punch. that thing sucked.
M.o.S was another great visual masterpiece… and the story was OK. Goyer is mostly lauded because he’s found success with Nolan. But his scripts aren’t that great and even the Batman movies have some TERRIBLE dialogue. M.o.S. suffered the same.
Very interested in how this will continue to develop….
I’m not judging until I see some footage of some kind, so best of luck to them. What I am worried about is Goyer, who is very overrated ever since the “The Dark Knight”. He’s not a great writer and he did a poor job jumbling the story together in MoS; there was no natural flow and it was hard to care about Supes because of the way it was edited. That being said, I still liked the film, but I would love for them to get rid of his involvement in everything DC.
Also, I agree, Snyder is definitely the biggest wild card here… I hope he turns things around and makes something great for the sequel. I am very excited to see where they take this universe and MoS will show us just that.
I’m breaking towards pessimism here. The casting of Bats and Luthor are bordering on suicidal. Eisenberg is more than a little eyebrow raising since a guy who casual observers can’t tell apart from Michael Cera isn’t one you’d normally pick for such a commanding role, but he could potentially surprise. The delays have already begun, which implies they really have no idea how to do this, they did a terrible job of character development in MoS with just Supes so bringing Diana Prince and Bruce Wayne in having hardly established Clark Kent seems like the most efficient way to do absolutely nobody justice.
I tend to think that most actors are cast for a reason, particularly in something with the profile and resources of this movie. The casting and acting was so not the problem with the first movie. Heck, some of those performances are significantly better than the script.
Color me worried where the writing and directing are concerned. Far as I can tell, they were the culprits on Man of Steel. Goyer and Snyder aren’t untalented, but they often don’t quite seem to know what to emphasize, how to draw character arcs… basic stuff like that. But it’s not like they don’t care, so there’s always a chance they could get it together.
Though, truth be told, I’m not so much worried as I am refusing to care too much unless someone proves to me that I should.
Congratulations, Warner. You’ll be able to make a movie with Batman and Superman suck.
My problem with Affleck is not the fact that he can’t play Batman. However, he doesn’t actually seem to be a believable choice to be Bruce Wayne. When he plays gritty, uneducated roles, he seems to flourish. But when he plays a person that tends to be educated and/or classy, I never viewed him as believable. So my hopes is that we see more Batman and less Bruce Wayne.
Lex is supposed to be confident, ruthless and downright evil. I don’t think that Jesse can get any of those right, not by a mile.
That kid from 10 things I Hate About You is playing the joker? A lightweight like that could never pull off the Joker’s chaotic insantity! Wait, what year is it again?