Kevin Smith has a long, storied history with the Man of Steel, dating back to his years working on Tim Burton’s ill-fated film version that was supposed to star Nicolas Cage. (For that project’s collapse, check out Jon Schnepp’s documentary The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened?). It was little surprise that he had plenty of opinions about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, especially since his good friend Ben Affleck (star of his Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma and Jersey Girl) was playing the Dark Knight. And at New York Comic Con on Friday, the writer, director, and host of AMC’s Comic Book Men continued to expound on the polarizing superhero face-off.

When the film first came out, Smith stated that, while he loved Affleck’s more brutal incarnation of Batman, he felt the overall result was a movie that “didn’t really have a heart. It was certainly f—ing humorless — there was nothing funny going on in that world, whatsoever. But it had lots of spectacle… But you need more than just the pictures — you need characterization. And these characters seemed off-character.”

Upon subsequently revisiting the film, Smith expressed more positive thoughts about Zack Snyder’s blockbuster. And Friday at his Comic-Con panel for Comic Book Men, he again remarked upon BvS — revealing, most notably, that he’s endlessly rewatching the film in a desperate attempt to make himself love it. As Comicbook.com reports, Smith confessed:

“I’ve watched Batman versus Superman extended edition 25 times since I got it, my wife has said ‘You’ve watched this s— 25 times, you know what happens… f—ing Martha.’ And I just say, ‘I know, I’m just going to keep watching it until I love it’….So, yes, I do hope that we get a better version of Batman versus Superman, you know, like maybe the version in my head.”

Smith also continued to praise Affleck’s performance at the expense of other Batmans: “I mean it used to be Michael Keaton, and f—, Mr. Mom doesn’t hit too hard. But Ben comes in and blows up 12 people just coming in the door.” He also reminded the audience that — no matter what side of the Marvel-DC divide they’re on — this is a golden age of comic book movies, and fans should be thankful they exist in such abundance. To read a full run-down of Smith’s Comic Con panel thoughts, head over to Comicbook.com.

Watch Smith share a sweet moment with his daughter:



