It was one of those days Ill remember for the rest of my life.
Last week in London I had something similar happen on the set ofZack SnydersJustice League.
For some reason Ben Affleck decided to come off the stage by where a group of us were standing.
As he came over he stopped and we made some small talk.
He came across as someone confident and happy about what they were making.
Heres what he had to say:
Question: This sounds like a different Batman.
Image via Warner Bros.
Bad guys flying monkeys.
Hes got a little bit of an attitude.
AFFLECK: Yeah, hes a little bit more sardonic, humor, a little more irony.
Image via Warner Bros.
Hes on a little more man on a mission this time.
As opposed to like he was so full of anger because of what happened at the Black Zero Event.
That kind of character, that sort of rage that possessed him.
Image via Warner Bros.
And now hes on a mission to get this group together.
To constitute this League.
But, more of his, that sort of Bruce Wayne, wry, ironic gallows humor comes out.
Image via Warner Bros.
Hes not like a haha jokey, but that sort of stuff comes out a little bit.
A bit of, his sort of darker humor stuff is present.
Does he have a hard time playing with others?
Image via Warner Bros.
And he doesnt have huge success initially.
He barely knows how to play well with Alfred.
Does he see the Flash as sort of a Robin-esque character?
Photo via Clay Enos
AFFLECK: Thats interesting, theres an element of that to it.
Theres not the ward aspect to it, but theres a little bit of the mentor.
Which youd probably ask Ezra and hed be like, fuck that!
Image via Warner Bros.
Hes not my mentor!
But I think there is a little bit.
And its fun to play, definitely.
Image via Clay Enos
And what does Batman do around a guy whos really excited and positive all the time?
[laughs] You know what I mean?
Thats not his natural state of being, so thats really fun.
Image via Warner Bros.
And its been really, really cool.
Everybody has brought a certain kind of energy to their character thats really distinct in this thing.
One of the things that is really well done aboutBatman v Supermanare your fight scenes.
That scene where you take the bullet in the back of the head and continue going is fuckin great.
How are you ramping up from that to this?
In terms of what Batman can do?
AFFLECK: We have the same guys who choreographed and came up with those.
I like to say it was my idea, but I just do what they tell me.
And the same, lot of the same from visual effects, from practical effects.
A lot of these guys doing really creative cool stuff and they just come up with really great ideas.
you might sort of execute this stuff and put yourself in their hands and let them do it.
Its kind of like getting a great composer.
Its almost a separate thing that layers into the movie.
And if it works, it feels like its flawlessly integrated.
How couldStar Warsexist without that music?
This time around, youre an executive producer on this.
How does that change you and your role, like ownership on Batman?
AFFLECK: Why Im an executive producer is that Im directing one of the movies.
Theres a potential that something like this might exist in that story.
So that somebody doesnt go sailing off, causing problems for your movie with their movie.
You know, in a way, its also a kind of a courtesy.
How big is the role of Geoff Johns in this?
AFFLECK: Uh, big!
Geoff is a big part of things.
Really this is Zack [Snyder]s role and were here executing Zacks vision.
I think all the great Batman stories are, at their heart, detective stories.
Thats why they feel like noir movies in a way.
Somehow feels like it could beThe Maltese Falcon.
But at their heart good Batman stories are, like I said, detective stories.
How are we going to work together successfully?
But one of the things obviously, is you cant go past the end.
Starting over, reborn and believing.
The thing that hes hopeful for hes holding onto desperately.
And he really believes in this idea of forming this group.
I can definitely say that.
That starts him off and thats his core mission here.
Obviously thats something different because thats a guy whos not nihilistic, he hasnt given up.
What would you say are the biggest changes by comparison to those two movies?
AFFLECK: Theres definitely room for more humor.
And this is not that.
So theres definitely, hopefully some fun in it.
But its not unrecognizably these characters or these stories.
Its not turning it upside down.
[laughs]
AFFLECK: Its like, guys, were getting way out of his league.
So were able to explore the powers of these other heroes and what they can do.
Which is pretty exceptional too.
Jason Momoa, hes got a very strong, stubborn, independent, powerful energy.
And its about how hard it is for them to all get along.
So its not an easy ride trying to get this group to come together.
Is there any conflict in this one regarding Batmans tactics?
Having learned lessons that were important in the last movie.
AFFLECK: I think they have a date for it.
[laughs]
Can I ask where you are in the scripting process?
Thats something that would have to pass a very high bar for me.
Its not just like, yeah, that might be fun, lets go try this out.
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