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?

Note from Tommy: I’d like to welcome James Abels to the team of Top Hat Sasquatch contributors.

In the massive shadow of the Batman vs. Superman announcement, speculation has crept out of every corner of the Internet. This is big news, for both DC comics, and fans. Though, to me, it feels a bit off, and I’m not referring to Affleck.

It is clear that DC is making strides toward building their movie universe, from the ground up, and it would seem as if The Man of Steel will be the foundation. Although, when I take a closer look, it was in no way seemingly crafted to serve this purpose. It is also evident that maybe the threat was a little too ambitious for a re-introduction to Superman as well. Before you start an online petition, let me explain.

I would consider Superman the quintessential DC character, even though Batman tends to clean up at the box office. What I mean is that Superman is essentially God. Aside from Kryptonite, there isn’t much you can threaten him with. This has always been an issue for DC to face, and translating the character to the big screen makes it even more complex. The stakes need to be high for Superman, and Man of Steel delivered that. Though, where do we go from here? How can the stakes be higher than saving the entire human race?
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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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Going on vacation during the biggest week for Geek news is kind of overwhelming. I came back from a fun-filled day at Disney World to an RSS Reader full of news stories. Since I don’t have the time to write about all of them in-depth, I’m going to be posting SDCC roundups a few times this week. Today’s edition is all about comic book movies, and there’s a lot of news.
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I loved Man of Steel.

Know what I love more though? The fact that it’s inspiring debate among geeks. I get the issues that people have with this movie, and I’m just glad that we have a Superman movie that has enough going on to actually get people talking. My hope is that the issues people are having with it won’t be issues when the inevitable sequel gets here, and that Man of Steel can serve as a springboard for a robust Superman (and DC Comics) Cinematic Universe.

If you haven’t seen Man of Steel yet, don’t read this. I don’t think I can talk about the movie without giving anything away.

The Movie

I’m a huge Superman fan. In fact, Man of Steel made me remember just how big of a Superman fan I’ve been my whole life. I was pretty much obsessed with the Big Blue Boy Scout up until I was about fifteen years old. Then I got busy and paid less attention to DC superheros (Spider-Man and X-Men were just hitting the theaters) and it wasn’t until Superman Returns that I started thinking about the character more again. I liked that movie, but just as a nostalgic homage to the classic movies, and I totally understood everyone’s complaints about it. It was not an action-packed Superman film.

Fast forward a few years and the world is superhero movie crazy. We’ve had a great Batman movie trilogy and we’ve seen Marvel craft an incredible interconnected Marvel Universe on screen. It’s time to bring Superman back. When I heard Christopher Nolan was going to be involved I was excited, but then I was less excited when Zack Snyder was announced as the director. I wasn’t a fan, but I am now.

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