‘Batman v Superman’: Ben Affleck ‘Was The First Guy’ They Wanted – Here’s Why!

Ben Affleck was actually the very first choice to play Batman, according to Batman v Superman producer Charles Roven.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Roven stated that Ben Affleck was not only the first choice to play Batman in the highly-anticipated follow-up to 2013’s Man of Steel – he was also the first person that they approached with the opportunity.

“He was the first guy we went to. That’s who we wanted.”

When Batman v. Superman was first announced by Zack Snyder, many fans and critics expected him to cast a young actor to play Batman who would have been closer to the same age of Henry Cavill’s Superman.

However, based on what Roven revealed in this interview, Zack Snyder and the producers were actually looking for the exact opposite.

“We knew that we wanted a very mature Batman, because we wanted to juxtapose him with this very young Superman. So we wanted a guy who was tougher, rugged, who had signs of life, who had lived a hard life, and we wanted the guy to have chops.”

Although it may have seemed like there was an extensive list of more qualified actors to play Batman besides Ben Affleck, Roven went on to state that very few were able to meet those precise requirements.

“When we went down that list, there just weren’t a tremendous number of guys who could carry that.”

By casting Ben Affleck, the maturity aspect of their expectations was definitely checked off the list – especially since the 42-year old actor is much older than 31-year old Henry Cavill. However, according to Roven, the age difference and Ben Affleck’s acting skills were not the only factors that were considered as highlights of casting him for this role.

They also loved the fact that he was taller than Henry.

“We also wanted a guy with big stature. Ben is 6? 4?. Henry is 6’1?. We wanted Batman to tower over Superman. Not hugely, not like a basketball player. Superman needed to ‘look up’ to Batman. We wanted that dynamic, and Ben could do that, easily.”

Now that the Batman v Superman producer has come forward and explained exactly why Ben Affleck was selected to become the newest actor to become the Caped Crusader and Dark Knight on the big screen, this could possibly help to change the minds and perspectives of skeptical critics and fans.

What do you think? Are you excited to see what Ben Affleck can do as the new Bruce Wayne?

[Image Credit: Movie Pilot]