Numbers don’t lie. Even filmmakers know that Batman is the premiere live action hero in the DC Universe. Over the years there have been 9 live action Superman films and 13 films featuring the Caped Crusader. That’s why the choice of who dons the cape and cowl is so important. A decision DC wiffed on in the DCEU.

Let me start by saying, I really enjoyed Ben Affleck in Batman v Superman. I will go as far as saying I think he was almost the best thing in the film, more so as Bruce Wayne than Batman, but overall, I think he was great. Affleck’s talent has nothing to do with why he was a poor choice. Disclaimer complete. Alright, on with the show.

Let’s start with something most everyone agrees on. Marvel did the whole shared universe team-up thing right. Start with solo films and work up to an epic team-up with characters people already know and love. Build up and hype are a good thing. One problem with DC is they tried to play catch up, so it forced them to rush things. Introducing one character in the first team-up might have worked. Introducing three major players in one film caused them to short change character development on some pretty important figures.And not for nothing, DC followed that mode in their small screen universe on The CW. Each year the team-ups get bigger and more ambitious. This year’s was the biggest and best yet.

Now on to Affleck. As I said in the beginning, his talent is not in question. It was his status that fubared things. Ben Affleck had already reached superstar status before he took on the role of Bats. He’s at the top of his game, he is in demand, and his bank account is full. All of those things ultimately will be the undoing of a great DCEU.

Related: Read all of The Geekiverse’s articles about the DCEU

Shared universe projects are big, long, messy deals where the pieces don’t always fit together perfectly with each other, or with their source material. Long projects require anchors. The biggest and best characters are the anchors. Iron Man, Captain America, Thor. Those are anchors. In the case of DC, in order of importance, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Batman, is the anchor. He always has been. Anchors in long-term projects need actors that are committed for the long haul. Therein lies that problem with casting Affleck. Maybe he WAS in for the long haul, but maybe not. He doesn’t need this. There is work lining up for him, and he has made his riches already. So, when things go bad, and ratings aren’t there, criticism is high, there is too much drama on the set (or in the front office), he can very quickly move on to other things. He has no impetus to weather the long-term storm.

Have a look at some past Batmans (or is it Batmen?). Keaton lasted a couple of films, one of which was great. He was established, but not really the superstar he is now. From a career standpoint, Batman helped jumpstart has career again. When Burton left, he had no reason to stay, and it helped Keaton in his decision that Batman Returns wasn’t a great film. Kilmer and Clooney were both already established and cranking. Joel Schumaker kept some of the charm of the Burton vision and he landed some great costars in Jim Carey, Tommy Lee Jones, Nicole Kidman, Chris O’Donnell, Uma Thurman, and Alicia Silverstone. Neither film won critical acclaim and since both Kilmer and Clooney didn’t need it, away they went. Kilmer apparently left to do The Saint, and in an interview Schumaker relayed that Kilmer was “childish and impossible”. No one at Warner Brothers was loath to see him go.

On to Christian Bale. He had a decent resume, but it was arguably his stint as Batman that drove him to bigger and better, with his bigger successes happening with and after donning the cape. Batman drove his career. He didn’t get Batman because he was already a big star. He did his three films, and quite frankly, I think the audience was ripe for more, and the ending of The Dark Knight Rises certainly teased more. Batfans would have jumped at the opportunity for more of Bale’s Bats. Sadly, it was not to be, and ironically, The Dark Knight premiered the same year Marvel launched the MCU with Iron Man, and another guy whose career was made by his time as a super hero.

A quick look at the MCU stars show that none of the big ones were megastars until their appearance in the MCU. Before he put on the armor, Robert Downey Jr. had a pretty great run at it, however, he also had a potentially career demolishing run with substance abuse. Iron Man was a rebirth for Downey, who has become one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood because of it. Chris Evans had done a few things, including Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four films (which I think were way better than they were giving credit for…if only they didn’t use a rubber Thing suit). Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner have all achieved great successes after they played Marvel superheroes…over the long haul. It’s the long haul that is the secret to the success of the MCU.

Back to Affleck. He has 2 films and a cameo in the DCEU. Neither of the films were particularly well received critically, while both did well at the box office. Worldwide to date, Batman v. Superman came in at $873 million, which puts it in 9th if slotted into the superhero films ranking by box office, and Justice League thus far has earned $574.2 million, which puts it at 29th. Neither a blockbuster, which a guy of Affleck’s stature may have been counting on. His reaction or DC’s was that Affleck would not direct The Batman solo film, and now it appears he may not even star in it. A new Batman. That’ll be 6 actors since 1989. Hardly an anchor for the character that DC made their most important, and most profitable character. As a point of comparison, RDJ alone has 8 films into the MCU. He is an anchor.

There are a couple of other creative decisions involving Batman and Affleck that may have resulted in the criticism leveled at the newest iteration of the Caped Crusader. With the success of Nolan’s much darker, much grittier version of the Dark Knight. It was successful, and it is generally considered the best of modern Batman films. It is no small wonder that DC opted for a darker, more gritty approach to their shared universe, beginning with Man of Steel, but amplified in the sometimes dark, sometimes weird Batman v. Superman. It is pretty universally agreed that the weirdest scene was the “Martha” scene. It gave us a couple minutes of Affleck playing a completely unhinged lunatic. Whether it was the acting or the directing, it is hard to believe that either Snyder or Affleck thought that wasn’t cringe-worthy. Batman v. Superman gave rise to the Sad Affleck meme that made me immediately believe Affleck was not long for this universe.

The second decision that may have doomed the DCEU was making Batman older, post death of Robin. One of the great successes in the MCU is bringing in characters who have spanned the years of source material. Robin is a critical character in the DC universe and writing him out at the very beginning in order to make Batman the grizzled elder warrior hamstringed the universe. There were other ways to accomplish this if DC was concentrating on the long game that is a shared universe project.

Related: The Grumpy Geek Wonders Where the Boy Wonder is

So, now after three attempts at Batman that did not meet expectations, the foundation on which the DCEU is built is crumbling. Affleck’s future is in question. He has left the writer’s/director’s chair for The Batman, and now there are seeds of doubt that he will even play the titular role. There is a reorganization at the top of the DCEU. All of this could have been avoided by casting a Batman of lesser stature. Someone who had the staying power the long term project needed. Someone whose career was on the rise, not at the apex. On the rise gives someone a more long term outlook. The DCEU needed an anchor. Batman was that guy. Affleck playing older Batman was not. A shake up with the man who wears the cowl will only hurt the universe, and it looks as though that is the way we are headed.

What do you think? Did Affleck help or hurt the DCEU? Will he stick around?

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The Grumpy Geek, Pete Herr is the author of “10 Things We Should Teach You In High School and Usually Don’t”. He is the oldest geek in the Geekiverse by a factor of two. Follow Pete Herr on Facebook, Twitter,and Instagram . If you don’t he gets Grumpy. You don’t want to see him Grumpy.

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