Batman v Superman: Affleck & Snyder Talk Criticism

Zack Snyder and Ben Affleck talk about the reaction Batman v Superman has gotten before even being out

Batman v Superman has been a divisive movie pretty much since it’s inception. Fans and critics alike have been divided over the fact that it continues from the already divisive Man of Steel film, that Ben Affleck was cast as Batman, that it’s too dark (in some cases literally, as it appears to only take place at night), that it takes a shortcut right to the Justice League in one film, etc. So how does the cast and director of Batman v Superman deal with all that fan noise, both negative and positive?

For his part, Batman v Superman director Zack Snyder is mostly just jazzed that people are talking about the film:

"The tweets, comments, articles, blogs — it’s insanity. I tune it out to the extent that, when it’s really dumb, then we go, “OK, someone stomp this [rumor] because it’s stupid.” But mostly I just go, “Thank God they’re talking about the movie.” The fact that they care enough to get online and either rage or praise — that’s just cool for the culture, for the fans."

Ben Affleck talked about his experience directing movies, and being warned by Warner Bros. what he might be in for when taking on the role of The Dark Knight in Batman v Superman:

"From directing movies myself, at this point I always feel too enmeshed with it, where I get this panicked sense of like, “Is it good? It’s horrible, right? It’s going to bomb.” But I have a little more sense of remove from this. I feel relaxed and I’m proud of the movie and excited for people to see it. It’s a much nicer feeling. I’m so glad I’m not Zack.I wasn’t totally up to speed with the extent to which the Internet can react to this stuff, and Warner Bros. was like, “Look, we just want to give you a little heads-up.” And they kind of briefed me on the reactions to some past casting choices: negative reactions to Heath [Ledger] being cast as Joker and other past stuff I wasn’t even aware of. In my experience, the truth is, if your work is good, people are going to like it. If it’s bad, people won’t. The rest of it is just speculation. It’s like when a team drafts a player: Fans can speculate, but you’ve got to wait until the season starts to see how they play.I’m pretty grown up about this stuff. If I had my feelings getting hurt about stuff that was said on the Internet, I would have been gone a long time ago, my friend. [Laughs]"

Next: Batman v Superman: Designing The Batmobile

I have definitely been a fan of the casting of Ben Affleck as Batman, dude is an incredibly accomplished actor. I think the trailers have come out positive for him. I’m less fond of Zack Snyder, however Ill give credit where credit is due. He made a great remake of Dawn of The Dead, which shouldn’t be possible. He directed 300, which may not have aged well, but was a pretty fun movie at the time. He also probably got as close as anyone ever will to making a watchable version of The Watchmen.

And ultimately, we can’t judge Batman v Superman until we have actually seen it. I have repeatedly stated my opinions that I don’t think I’ll like Batman v Superman all that much, but I don’t know that for a fact, and I’ll hold judgement until I actually see the film. At worst, I think there will be some positives we get out of it that we can look forward to being explored more in the Justice League. Batman v Superman opens in just 12 days on March 25th.

h/t CBM