Not too long ago, Kevin Conroy (Batman and Harley Quinn) said that Ben Affleck is the best live-action Batman to date. That generated a lot of discussion online but when I recently had chance to speak to the actor for HeyUGuys, he clarified those comments but still had plenty of praise for Batfleck.
"I said that and it’s been kind of amplified. I said it in addition to saying that everyone’s is valid and that I like Michael Keaton, I like Christian Bale…I like them all! The one thing Ben Affleck did better than anyone is he got the balance between Batman and Bruce Wayne. There were two personas there and each of the actors have gotten one or the other really good; some people are better as Bruce Wayne, some are better as Batman. Ben Affleck, uniquely I think, was good at both and he did a really good job of it. I just think Ben Affleck got the balance of both characters better than any of them."
That's a fair point and one which it's hard to argue with as previous live-action Batman actors have often struggled with getting both sides of the Caped Crusader right. Affleck's portrayal was a great one despite Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice's other failings but fans of the Michael Keaton and Christian Bale versions will hopefully be calmed down by these latest remarks (it's a bit of a tough break for those of you who call George Clooney or Val Kilmer your favourite Dark Knight, though).
I also asked Conroy for his thoughts on where he hopes The Batman goes next and he has some very specific ideas for the hero. "I always loved seeing him in his internal struggles whenever he has to go within his own psyche and fight with himself. I love seeing those kinds of things and would love to see that in a live-action film but that would require a very specific kind of actor and director. That would be fabulous for me. Anything dealing with the eternal struggle from his childhood."
Finally, despite not hearing about Warner Bros.' plans for a Joker movie revolving around The Clown Prince of Crime's origin story, Conroy revealed how he feels about that and made it clear he'd like to see Mark Hamill somehow wind up in the role. "I think that will be a really interesting film. There is an episode of Batman: The Animated Series which dealt with that and told that story. It’s really interesting. I had not heard they were doing a film version of it but I hope that Mark [Hamill] gets it!"
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