When the news broke that Ben Affleck had been cast as the DCEU's Dark Knight in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the response was undeniably mixed.
The actor ultimately proved his detractors wrong and, despite starring one some very hit-or-miss movies, made his mark as the iconic DC Comics superhero. Unfortunately, the DCU reboot means his time wearing the cape and cowl has ended.
We don't know who Affleck's successor will be, but Robert Pattinson has already taken over the role in Matt Reeves' The Batman franchise. Before the Daredevil star suited up, it was Christian Bale who brought Bruce Wayne to life on screen in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy.
Talking to Joe Rogan earlier this week, Justice League director Zack Snyder shared his take on what gives Affleck's Batman an advantage over Bale's.
"That's the reason why I wanted [Ben] Affleck, because, to me, Batman's a big dude," Snyder said. "Affleck's 6'4", you know? He's a legit big dude. And the shoes, the boots are like two inches, so he's literally almost 6'6" in the costume. When he comes out in the costume - I mean, we put some muscle on him, and there's a muscle suit under the suit, and he's, legitimately, a scary-looking thing."
"You know, he's just standing there, and you're like, 'Holy sh*t.' Like, dude...the chin is so insane, in that cowl. I mean, look at him, he's legitimately, that's Batman to me."
Rogan brought up Bale's interpretation to which Snyder simply said, "He's a great Batman, but he's still, like, you know, 5'10" (he later clarified that he was "not being rude" and simply prefers the bulkier Batman from certain comic books).
It's clear Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns was a big source of inspiration for the filmmaker during his stint in the DCEU, something Snyder reiterated while discussing Batman's build.
"If you look at Dark Knight Returns, there's a line where he's trying to hold someone's gun, and his finger can't get in the trigger guard because he's so big," he explained. "I like things like that. He has this genetic gift of just being this big f***ing dude."
"And, other than that, his parents were murdered in front of him, and he's also a billionaire...You want it to not just be one of those things, right? It needs to be all of them in order for him to do what he can do."
Who do you think is the best big screen Batman? Let us know in the comments section.