In a 2019 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, the infamous master of dissing strikes low and hard at Ben Affleck. That too, for the one spectacularly defining role that elevated the actor from his moody aesthetic collection of cinema to a fan-favorite Batman. As for the latter, the comic book character’s representation varied mutably from the glossy pages of DC to the grungy and hard-hitting look offered by the maestro, Zack Snyder, himself. But in a fizzled-out arc, Affleck’s Batman loses its potential capacity to be great in the drama created by the clash between the Warner Bros. management and the director’s vision.
Joe Rogan Finds a Fault With Ben Affleck’s Batman
Not all Batman portrayals throughout the years have been great, primarily because of a story lacking any substantial plot but often because of the lead actor not being effectively convincing in the role himself. Ben Affleck’s Batman, according to Joe Rogan, does not accord the status that Michael Keaton’s Batman does. The latter is a symbiotic relationship where the people will forever remember the actor in relation to Batman and Batman in relation to Keaton. However, Rogan says that that’s not the case when it comes to Ben Affleck and his predecessor Christian Bale – although for two very separate reasons.
“The amount of people that will see you as Batman, it’s whether or not they really believe it. Like Christian Bale – I believe that guy could be Batman… [Ben Affleck] is a very good actor don’t get me wrong, but what is it about him? Is he too handsome? No ‘cuz Val Kilmer was gorgeous […] It makes sense that Val Kilmer was Batman.”
Christian Bale took on the role of the Dark Knight in a definitive trilogy directed by the ingenious mastermind, Christopher Nolan. The three-part saga that provided an origin, a middle, and a conclusion, is a story for the history books of comic book movie adaptations. But with Ben Affleck, the story begins with the end – a doom that reflected as much in the apocalyptic Knightmare as it did in the world outside at Warner Bros.
The Dark Knight v Batfleck: A Clash of Hollywood Titans
With the adaptation of one of the most legendary comic book characters comes the added benefit of the films being helmed by two of the greatest, most ambitious, and visionary directors of our time: Nolan and Snyder. But where one succeeds, the other fails, and not for the lack of a good story. Christian Bale’s Dark Knight struggles, falls, breaks, and rises again in his epic saga worthy of being hailed as one of the best comic book-to-movie adaptations. The presence of incredible adversaries portrayed by equally powerful and class-apart actors like Liam Neeson, Heath Ledger, and Tom Hardy makes the trilogy a delicacy and a delight.
Zack Snyder’s Batman, on the other hand, was cruel and vicious, world-weary and running rogue, doling out justice like a brand as final as the executioner’s blade. Ben Affleck, in the very beginning of his career as Batman, was pitted against Superman, and in his unforgiving role as the Caped Crusader, the story only played with the darker themes of the vigilante superhero, letting the story of perseverance, hope, and a chance at redemption stay for another day, and perhaps another adaptation entirely. As such, Batfleck wasn’t an all-encompassing character the way Nolan’s and Bale’s representation was and in that, many find a flaw even underneath the layers of mind-numbingly beautiful storytelling of the SnyderVerse.
Source: The Joe Rogan Experience
