The biggest movie news story this past week — as well as perhaps the biggest casting news of the year — was Warner Bros. deciding on their newest man to don Batman’s iconic cape and cowl in the sequel to this year’s Superman flick, Man of Steel. That man is of course Ben Affleck, and the casting became a huge talking point for anyone with an interest in the subject. By talking point, I am referring to the shockingly negative backlash from superhero fans, film fans, and the internet in general.
Within days — hours, even — of the news breaking, message boards and comment sections were overflowing with people spewing their hate-filled vitriol at the decision. Let me repeat: people were genuinely angry and upset at this decision. There was a lot of this:
If you don’t have the time to watch that video (you don’t), that is a TEN MINUTE rant over — and I can’t stress this enough — an actor simply being cast as a fictional character.
How is it possible to cast judgement over something that doesn’t even exist yet?
Elisa Iannunzio
Luke Miksa