Kevin Smith saw Ben Affleck in his Batman suit and he promises this is a version of the Caped Crusader we’ve never seen before…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
It’s no secret the Kevin Smith is a big Ben Affleck fan.
Affleck has had a role in a bunch of Smith’s films including Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Dogma and of course Chasing Amy. Smith suggested Affleck for the role of Daredevil (might be one mistake he made) and said once upon the time that he believes the actor could pull off any role — even the shark in Jaws.
While Smith and Affleck are still friends, they haven’t stayed in as much contact lately due to family commitments and other projects they’ve been working on, but the second it was announced that Affleck would star as Batman in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel, his old friend immediately reached out.
Smith might be the world’s biggest Batman fan — he even does a Batman podcast on his popular SModcast network called ‘Fatman on Batman’ where he talks to writers, artists, actors or pretty much anyone that’s ever been involved with Batman. As an extra treat, Man of Steel director Zack Snyder even let Smith get a peak of Affleck in his Batman costume before they began filming in Detroit.
Needless to say, Smith was a fan.
“All I can say is that every Bat-fan will love it. We’ve never seen this suit on screen before. And this is a suit that’s iconic as fuck. So take from that what you will,” Smith said during a recent Reddit AMA session.
Once Smith saw Affleck in the iconic outfit, he reached out to Affleck to let him know what he thought. He even tried to land a spot in the movie, and Affleck hasn’t turned him down yet. He was mostly reiterating to fans that he’s not actually involved in the movie currently titled ‘Batman vs. Superman’ but Smith isn’t shying away from looking at the suit and seeing his old friend take over the cape and cowl.
“I’m not involved at all. I’m just a big, fat cheerleader, blinded by love of both Batman and the dude I used to work with a lot who’s now gonna play him. Strange collision of lifetime passions – which, make no mistake, sounds exactly as homoerotic as I intended,” Smith said. “In MALLRATS opening credits, Ben is depicted on cover of BUTTMAN ADVENTURES comic book. In the CHASING AMY commentary track, I say to Ben “You can be Clooney.” He says “I can be Clooney.” And I ask “But can you be Batman?” In JERSEY GIRL, Ben refers to the street-sweeper as “the BatMobile”. And years after all that shit, homey winds up in the cape & cowl. That shit just makes me happy.
“But the only words I’ve exchanged with Ben about the Batman role have been via email. I blew him up when I saw the suit and wrote “Zack showed me you in the suit. I’ve got the vapors. He wrote back “You saw it?! I haven’t even seen the pictures yet! How’s it look?” I replied “Fuck you and take all my money. a) Perfect suit. Every fan will love. b) You ARE Batman! c) Can I be Penguin?” Still waiting on a reply. He hasn’t said no.”
Smith saying that we’ve never witnessed this version of Batman leads one to wonder if the filmmakers behind ‘Batman vs. Superman‘ have dropped the black bat-suit of the movies and gone back to the traditional grey and blue outfit worn by Batman in the comic books?
It’s hard to say when anyone will get a first look as Affleck putting on the Batman outfit, but there’s a pretty good shot it happens at San Diego Comic Con this summer when filmmakers role out the red carpet for a chance to make a splash at the summer convention. Affleck and his wife Jennifer Garner have already relocated to Detroit along with actor Henry Cavill so filming for ‘Batman vs. Superman‘ should get underway at any time.
The movie won’t open, however, until 2016.
