After teasing us with a shot of the Batmobile yesterday, Superman vs. Batman director Zack Snyder has just unveiled a black and white shot of Ben Affleck as Batman, standing next to the Batmobile. It’s hard to see all the detail in this monotone shot (even after I adjusted the brightness/contrast), but I love the direction they’re going.

The short ears are awesome, I was actually worried they were going to go with really long ears that would have looked strange. I love these. Also, Batman is huge. I love how thick he looks. I always felt that (even though he was buff) Christian Bale looked tiny in his batsuit.

I totally dig the big Dark Knight Returns bat-symbol, and I love the 90s utility belt filled with pouches. The big thing I’m waiting to see is the color(s) of the suit. I’m really hoping for some gray and not just all-black, but we’ll see.

What do you guys think?

Well, I don’t think anyone saw that coming. Everyone was expecting someone like Bryan Cranston to get cast as Lex Luthor, but today WB announced that Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, or Rio if you watch the kind of movies I do) is playing the villain in the Man of Steel sequel.

It’s…an interesting choice. I’m not upset or anything, I think he can pull it off. WB also announced that Jeremy Irons is playing Alfred, which is an equally interesting choice.

It makes sense to show Lex as a young genius and Jesse can definitely do that. The studio probably also wanted to cast someone younger than a Cranston and lock them in to a ton of sequels.

At the end of the day, I don’t really care who plays Lex as long as we get to see him in a big green and purple power suit at some point. Ammiright?

Via SlashFilm

Man of Steel comes out on Blu-ray today, and during an event to promote the release, Kevin Smith raved about the new Batman costume in the upcoming sequel. Zack Snyder also made comments about Lex Luthor, seemingly confirming his role in the movie, but I think everyone expected that. The juicy part of this story is hearing Smith, a huge Batman geek, talk about the new costume.

I saw the costume, more than that I saw him [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 him. You have not seen this costume in a movie, on film before. For a comb book fan, it was mind-bending… Because every other movie has done this matrixy black armor thing…There wasn’t a single nipple on this fucking suit man… I think everyone is just gonna be like ‘Holy Shit!’ It’s its own thing, man. We haven’t been down this path before…. There’s a very [beep]-influence to it, I would say.

Fans that attended the event mentioned that the beeped part of his description was Jim Lee. Lee was responsible for the awesome grey/blue suit in the early 2000s, and if that’s the direction they’re taking it for this movie then I am on board. Earlier reports were that the suit would be inspired by the graphic novel Batman Noel, so signs are pointing to a more grey/black/blue/pouchy design.

I think this is great news. Even though I love the Nolan Batman movies, I’m ready for a new version of Bats on the big screen. I doubt Affleck will be running around in tights, but as long as it doesn’t look overly tactical and has some grey in it, I’ll be happy.

What do you think though?

Via SlashFilm

So big news last night from Warner Bros. Ben Affleck is going to be the new version of Batman in 2014’s sequel to Man of Steel. My initial reaction was kind of a quiet Hmm, that’s interesting!, but the rest of the Internet’s was more like ZOMG DAREDEVIL SUCKS HE CAN’T BE BATMANNN!! and I don’t really understand the hate.

No, Ben Affleck isn’t my favorite actor, but he’s a good actor (and a great director, which could come in handy down the road for new solo Bat-films). He’s a big guy and I’m sure he’ll put on a lot of muscle for Batman, and he certainly has the chin for Batman. I think a lot of people have forgotten that there was a Batman before the Nolan movies, and that the character is wide open for interpretation.
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