As much as we all dislike DC at the moment for messing around with their cinematic universe, and for pumping out disaster after disaster, I think we can all agree that we're excited for some of their upcoming releases. They've spent so long scratching their heads instead of actually doing something to challenge Marvel, which lead to them trying to build a cinematic universe with characters they didn't have, like trying to play with toys that are still in the store. What this means is that they've had to start planning a whole number of films so they can introduce their characters and actually start building the baseline of a cinematic universe. This has resulted in plans for a new Batman reboot, as it inevitably would. Now as I said, no one is really seeing eye to eye with DC at the moment, but the Batman reboot is one of their upcoming projects that stands as the glimmer of light at the end of a very dark and very long tunnel. Like Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, the cinema audience's ordeal of navigating a long tunnel filled with human shit is finally drawing to a close. Hopefully.
While Zack Snyder is normally the weapon of choice DC rely on to direct their films, with Batman they're finally telling him to keep his grubby fingers to himself and have instead given creative control to leading actor Ben Affleck, who will be writing and directing the new film. Now, if you cast your mind back to about two years ago when the news of Affleck's casting as Batman first came out there was a lot of negativity in the air, particularly from me, because we were all worried we were about to see Daredevil vol. 2. Thankfully, even though Batman v Superman as a whole was a fucking shit stain on the toilet bowl of bad cinema, from that film emerged the greatest Batman we have ever seen. Hidden away in the cluttered, disfigured narrative was a well rounded, strong Batman whose motives were clear and who had three dimensional emotional development throughout the film. It was a breath of fresh air to finally see DC master one of their most popular characters, which is why I am actually quite excited to see a new solo Batman film. I know the standard has been set high by Christopher Nolan after his Dark Knight trilogy, but Ben Affleck's performance in BvS leaves us with a lot to be excited about.
What we all need to remember is that Affleck is a superb filmmaker. His writing is incredibly impressive, seen from a very young age when he co wrote the Oscar winning screenplay for Good Will Hunting, so we're pretty much guaranteed a substance heavy film with three dimensional characters, a solid structure and razor sharp dialogue. Furthermore, if you have any doubts about Affleck as director then go back and watch Argo a couple of times and the man's genius will sneak up and hit you around the face with a baseball bat that has the words "I told you so" engraved on the side, because he has already proven himself as a hugely talented director with a real keen eye for cinema. Granted he's had his fair share of bad films in the past, but that doesn't remove the fact he's got film in his blood. Think about it, he's spent a lot of years working with his good friend and fellow filmmaker Kevin Smith who has taught him a lot I'm sure, and since then he's worked with incredible directors like David Fincher, so I believe he is more than ready to take on the role of directing a Batman film.
After the recent footage released by Ben Affleck via Twitter, teasing the character of Deathstroke who is set to appear in the reboot, a lot of us have started to speculate as to whether they will incorporate Affleck's long standing friend Matt Damon into the film. The two started their career paths to success when they wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting together and have remained friends ever since, and considering they are both very talented actors a lot of us would like to see the two of them on screen together in a Batman film. From what I can gather from interviews and reports Matt Damon has in the past stated outright that he would not consider appearing in a comic book film, UNLESS it was directed by Ben Affleck. If this is true then they need to start emailing each other pronto and get Damon on set in some form of costume. And I don't mean just surreptitiously slipping him in as a cameo in the background, I want him in a speaking role on screen so they utilise his talents and please fans all over the world by putting the original bromance on screen together again.
The speculation of Matt Damon appearing in the Batman project has caused me to think about how exactly he could fit into the film. Looking at his back catalogue he has proven that he is a very diverse actor and so could play an all manner of roles in a Batman film. If you'll indulge me for just a little while and allow me to pontificate slightly, I've taken the time to list a couple of options available that would allow Matt Damon to become part of the project.
#1: Deathstroke
It's a cliche I know because the footage has been teased and the character has been confirmed, but it's a solid choice. Granted, they've recently released casting news for the character, but if cinematic history has taught us anything it's that actors can be replaced if the shoe doesn't fit. If this is the case, why not slip Damon into the DMs? Physically he is perfect for the role and is more than a match for Ben Affleck, plus we've already seen from the Jason Bourne films that he absolutely nails action sequences, especially hand-to-hand combat, so it would be really interesting to see him in the role of a super assassin/ mercenary. I think what's most appealing about this choice, aside from the fact it would be interesting to see two best friends trying to kill each other, is that it would be such a refreshing role to see Damon in. We're so used to seeing him play the good guy, and it's only in films like Interstellar and The Departed that we start to see his covert bad side, so it's time for us to see him go all out evil and cause some real shit for Batman on the streets of Gotham. It'd be interesting to see Damon playing any villain if I'm perfectly honest, but none more so than Deathstroke, because he could really master the physicality and complexity of the role.
#2: Nightwing/ Robin
Batman wouldn't be where he is today without an annoying sidekick to drag him down and give him something else to worry about, but once they mature out of the bratty rebellious phase they actually become quite interesting characters. To see Batman with a sidekick that is genuinely of use to him, but at the same time can stand on their own feet and go off to do other things without needing a babysitter would be interesting to see, particularly because this is an older Batman that has been introduced to the DCEU. Obviously we're not going to see anything of the Jason Todd variety because there is clearly an Easter egg in BvS that suggests The Joker has already killed Todd in the cinematic universe, but there are still plenty of options available. As much as I would love to see Affleck and Damon trying to tear chunks out of each other as Batman and Deathstroke, it would be pretty awesome to see them fighting crime together. I can just imagine scenes of them beating criminals to a pulp and then high-fiving afterwards, like the Brock Landers footage we see in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights. It might be a little camp and a little nineties, but why the hell would that be a bad thing? As long as they don't end up making a throwback to the days of Joel Schumacher and drowning us in puns then there shouldn't be a problem.
#3: Harvey Dent
He's not necessarily a huge character until his descent into evil as Two Face, but I think this particular project is set to be quite sophisticated and very down to Earth, so we're going to need supporting characters that are involved in the world of crime who are working on the side of the law. If you remember Tim Burton's 1989 Batman you'll recall that Harvey Dent is in the film briefly, played by Billy Dee Williams, so the notion of him appearing in a Batman film as a smaller role could work again. As the district attorney Harvey Dent is quite an interesting character as he is widely renowned as the good guy, which Matt Damon can portray quite easily. However he also has a whole other side to him in which we see his own personal struggles and his constant obsession to walk the straight and narrow path in his fleeting attempts to get results in a crooked world without rules. He's the character that always tries to be the good guy but then consistently stays one step behind the bad guy, much like the quote from the Coen Brother's No Country For Old Men in which Anton remarks "if the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?" I think that is Harvey Dent's character summed up perfectly, a guy trying to run full laps while his enemies are cutting corners and finishing the race first. His character is complex and I think it would really suit Matt Damon because he would have enough screen time to be appreciated, and it would be a great way to show that he has the acting ability to cover a range of emotions as a fragmented character.
#4: Alfred
Hear me out on this one. I'm aware that Jeremy Irons is already cast as Alfred, but I don't really care, because he was one of the most redundant characters in Batman v Superman and Irons should really just fade into obscurity after the absurd comments he made about same sex marriage not too long ago. Now, what I want to see is the Alfred that we got a glimpse of from Michael Caine in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. Initially in Batman Begins we see him almost as the patient father, not exactly happy with Bruce Wayne's decisions but he's there for him through whatever happens. He's a bit like a father whose child is going through an emo phase at the age of fifteen; they wear black a lot, spend a lot of time in a dark room hunched over their computer, and only really come out at night, but he still loves them and cares about them so he makes the effort. But then by the time we get to The Dark Knight Rises we see an Alfred that is exhausted to a pitch of near lunacy as we see him become more blunt with his opinions, to the point where he's practically saying "I'm getting real tired of your shit now Master Wayne, I'm off, good luck." That's the Alfred I want to see! I want an Alfred that is sick of dealing with Bruce Wayne's bullshit and who is tired of having to deal with the backlash of his actions. I want him to walk in on Wayne after a night of beating people up, look at his beaten and blood stained body and just say "What the fuck have you done now? You idiot. I come here every day and do everything for you around the house, and you repay me by adding more shit to the list as your personal physician. It's my evening off, and now I have to spend that time reconstructing your shoulder with a first aid kit and whatever tools I can find in the shed. You know you really need to get your shit together Bruce, you are dripping blood on the carpet and now I'm going to have to clear that shit up. The hell do you think you're doing? Now clean yourself up, dinner's ready. Bitch." Who better to play that character than Ben Affleck's best friend? They've been friends for years now so you know they're probably brutally honest with each other off screen, and I think it's time for us to see that on screen. And if you're sat there thinking it wouldn't work because Alfred is traditionally old and British then I would simply refer you to the terms 'xenophobia' and 'age discrimination' you monster.
#5: Oliver Queen AKA The Green Arrow
I think out of all of my choices this is my favourite, even though it's something of an obscure choice because it is still unclear as to whether Green Arrow will be brought into the DCEU, but personally I really want to see it happen, and Matt Damon would be perfect for the role. As I've previously mentioned he's shown in the Bourne films that he's got the acting ability for action films, but then if you look at films like Good Will Hunting there's evidence that he can play a witty intellectual too. The fact that Oliver Queen and Bruce Wayne are such good friends in the comics is just a happy coincidence, and it would make their onscreen chemistry so much more realistic if they were played by two actors who are best friends off screen. He doesn't even need to appear as Green Arrow. I know I would get value in my admission fee just to see a ten minute sequence of Bruce Wayne played by Ben Affleck, sat in Wayne Manor talking to Matt Damon's Oliver Queen about general superhero shit and how messed up their lives are, but how much they love it at the same time. And now that Deathstroke has been announced as the villain it would make this scene even more fitting considering Deathstroke is one of Green Arrow's most famous adversaries. Just picture the two of them talking about how much of a prick Deathstroke is before Damon just leaves the room saying "You're going up against Deathstroke? I remember that guy! Good fucking luck buddy, you're gonna need it."I know I would pay to see that film even if other people won't, because with any comic book inspired film there's always guaranteed action, but in between the action and the set pieces you need strong characters who can hold an intelligent and interesting conversation. They probably wouldn't even need to script the scene because Affleck and Damon know each other so well and are fantastic writers so they could just improvise and the audience would still believe their performances as part of the liberal intelligentsia they portrayed so brilliantly in their screenplay for Good Will Hunting.
#6: Some form of love interest
This is probably the first and only time this blog will venture into fanfic territory, but just bear with me here. It's 2016, times are changing, we're striving for equality more and more, so perhaps it's time to see a gay superhero. Not just a gay superhero, but a gay Batman. With Matt Damon. Somehow. I don't know, I haven't really looked too far into this, but I'm betting some you will make the mistake of searching on google images for Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and will stumble across some overly sexual Tumblr pages created by a creepy fan who studies fine art at University. On a side note, if you think the notion of Batman being gay with Matt Damon is weird then just remember that Christopher Nolan managed to make a romantic interest for Batman out of fucking Katie Holmes. Just let that sink in.
All joking aside, I am hoping that Matt Damon is somehow incorporated into Ben Affleck's Batman project. The two of them are old friends, and they're both incredibly talented, so it would be brilliant to see them collaborate on screen again in a solid Batman film. The ideal scenario is that Damon would play a returning character, like Deathstroke or Green Arrow, because that way we as the audience get to see him doing something interesting with a character we all want to see on the big screen and it wouldn't just be a one off gig. While the focus of comic book films tends to be the action and the visuals, what really drives a film at its heart is the performances. If they didn't have strong characters then people would completely lose interest, which is why so many people didn't like Man of Steel. If you put aside all of the problems that film had, one of the fundamental flaws stems from the fact the film has a weak protagonist. In that film Superman is so boring and completely lacks the complex and compelling edge that made people fall in love with the character from the comics. If DC have any hope of building a cinematic universe then they need to focus on the characters, which means finely tuning their writing and performances. They're slowly starting to add talented actors into their big cinematic releases, so fingers crossed they at least consider people like Matt Damon over the next few years.
Whether Matt Damon is involved or not, the Batman reboot is undoubtedly one of the films I am praying they get right. He's one of their most popular characters, and having let us down too many times before, DC need to pull out all the stops to give fans the films they deserve. Admittedly their failures in the past have been largely due to Zack Snyder, but now that DC are letting other people step into the light and take control of their films, I think it's a massive step in the right direction. There's always going to be a lot of pressure when making a film based on a character that is as popular as Batman but I think putting the project in Ben Affleck's hands is the safest way to ensure that even if they miss the mark, we'll still be left with a film that is an enjoyable experience that has a lot to like and admire.
If not, Marvel is still a thing. Swings and roundabouts.
