Val Kilmer, who defended Gotham against Jim Carrey's Riddler in Joel Schumacher's 1995 Batman Forever, tweeted that the negative reactions were premature:

Give Ben a chance! — Val Kilmer (@ValEKilmer) August 23, 2013

Meanwhile, Adam West, who played the character in the 1960's live action show, added this sage thought:

Remember Ben, with the cape and cowl comes great responsibility (and lots of heat). Bring deodorant. #batman @BenAffleck — Adam West (@therealadamwest) August 23, 2013

Even Avengers director Joss Whedon, who must be contemplating outdoing a potential Justice League film, praised the Argo director:

Affleck'll crush it. He's got the chops, he's got the chin -- just needs the material. Affleck & Cavill toe to toe -- I'm in. — Joss Whedon (@josswhedon) August 24, 2013

Affleck's turn as the hero drew instant critical feedback on Twitter, with one analytics firm estimating that 71 percent of tweets in the first hour after the news broke were negative. A Change.org petition to "remove" the actor from the next film has gathered more than 40,000 signatures.

Fans will have more than a year to get used to the actor in the role. Zack Snyder's untitled Batman and Superman film is set to hit screens July 17, 2015.