BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN: Everything You Need To Know So Far…

Tweet

RSSS

Tweet

Ever since it was announced at the end of summer in 2013, the upcoming Man of Steel sequel has sparked a lot of debate, from plot details to added characters and casting. This week it was announced that Jeremy Irons would take the role of Alfred, Bruce Wayne’s butler; the response from fans was wholly positive. It was also announced, however, that iconic Superman villain Lex Luthor would be helmed by Jessie Eisenberg, the star of The Social Network. Now this stirred mixed debate amongst fans.

Why is there such a debate? Well it’s not that the fans think that Eisenberg is bad. He’s a great actor, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he is right for the role. He is not very charismatic; he always seems to play very fidgety, awkward roles. He’s not a millionaire businessman with a bulked body, bald head and an urge to destroy Metropolis.

The feedback isn’t actually all negative. Some people are curious to see whether or not they are trying to put a new spin on the role, while hard-core fans are against this idea of changing beloved characters. Others speculate that this could end up being the same as the “Heath Ledger situation.”

When Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker in The Dark Knight, fans were shocked with negativity. They strongly objected to the star of A Knights Tale playing one of the most iconic villains of all time, but he ended up giving one of the best acting performances of the last 10 years.

And if you remember back to the Tim Burton Batman movies, Michael Keaton was a comedian before he was cast as the caped crusader. That sparked debate and most would say he ended up doing a pretty good job.

The film’s release date has been pushed back into 2016 from its original 2015 date, this has sparked concern. Why would it be pushed back a whole year? What problems are they running into? At the moment the film could either be a repeat of Spider Man 3 with the overcrowding of huge characters, or it could end up being on par with The Avengers? They have added characters like Nightwing and more recently Wonder Woman. Will these be small cameo roles? Or is the studio trying to shoehorn in some kind of Justice League movie?

Another cause for concern is that the whole script is now being rewritten by Chris Terrio who most recently wrote Argo. This is suspicious seeing as Ben Affleck, who directed and stared in Argo, is taking on the role of Batman in this movie. It certainly seems like Ben Affleck and his crew are moving onto the project. (I am personally worried about the casting choice for Batman. Although Ben Affleck is a good actor, he is too well known for Batman. I won’t feel like I’m watching Batman or Bruce Wayne, but rather like I’m watching Affleck in a rubber suit.)

I also can’t help feeling sorry for Henry Cavill as Superman. He is now in the shadow of the rest of the characters, isn’t this meant to be a Man of Steel movie? It seems like they are already trying to reboot the Batman franchise only a couple of years after the previous one ended. I am worried that this film and the films to follow are going to be far too rushed, with a Justice League movie planned for 2017, how will they be able to pull this off? And will it work?

Jacob Charnick is an aspiring film critic who just started blogging at Young Film Critic.