Batman 75 Year in Review: First Look at Batfleck

Batman’s 75th Anniversary draws to a close, so we here at Caped Crusades intend to fill these twilight days talking about the year that was. A lot of big Batman moments happened this year, so let’s review them as many as we can before our year-end countdown of the biggest and best!

Back on May 13th Batman v Superman director Zack Snyder gave us our first look at Ben Affleck as the new Caped Crusader.

I shot this with my @Leica_Camera M Monochrom. #Batman #Batmobile #Gotham http://t.co/WPHKLxgBLM pic.twitter.com/p5DEf6fLzJ
— Zack Snyder (@ZackSnyder) May 13, 2014

From a WB press release on Batfleck:

"We knew we needed an extraordinary actor to take on one of DC Comics’ most enduringly popular Super Heroes, and Ben Affleck certainly fits that bill, and then some. His outstanding career is a testament to his talent and we know he and Zack will bring new dimension to the duality of this character. We are so thrilled that Ben is continuing Warner Bros.’ remarkable legacy with the character of Batman. He is a tremendously gifted actor who will make this role his own in this already much-anticipated pairing of these two beloved heroes."

The casting stirred up quite a controversy, stemming mostly from Affleck’s disastrous turn as Daredevil (among other train wrecks). The costume had been vaguely described by Kevin Smith, who was the first outside the production to see the new Batsuit.

"I saw the Batman costume. More than that, I saw a picture of [Ben Affleck] in the costume…I don’t want to give anything away ’cause that is up to them and stuff, but I am going to say this…I instantly bear hugged [Snyder]. You have not seen this costume on film before. For a comic book fan, it was mind-bending… Because every other movie does this Matrix-y black armor thing…There wasn’t a single nipple on this suit. I think everyone is just gonna be like ‘Holy S**t!’ It’s its own thing. We haven’t been down this path before. Even the hardest core [most skeptical] person will be like ‘Alright, I’m ready.’…It seemed like it was very [Redacted] influenced."

The fact that the suit was grey instead of black was a fanboy dream, but the bat-symbol was a touch of controversy. It closely resembled its counterpart in Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns, and that would be an omen of things to come.