Ben Affleck Recalls Bat-Lash on “Late Night”
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Lloyd Bishop/NBC(LOS ANGELES) — The news Ben Affleck was cast as Batman recently loosed a tsunami of nerd rage on the Internet, and not surprisingly, the rumbles were felt by the man himself.
During Monday night’s installment of NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, the Oscar-winning Argo director made his first comments about his upcoming role as the Caped Crusader in the follow-up to Man of Steel — and about fan reaction to the news.
When he accepted the job, Affleck says, he was surprised that Warner Bros. execs took him aside to warn him about potential backlash.
“They said, ‘Listen, we want to talk to you, because people go through this process, and it could be a little…trying…And we want to show you some of…the reactions that people have been cast have gotten like on the Internet and stuff,'” he recalled.
Affleck wouldn’t reveal which actors the comments were referring to, but allowed they were, “people who were in these movies who did a great job.”
Of the feedback, Affleck said, “These things were like: ‘KILL HIM!'”
The actor said he ignored studio executives’ warnings for him to, “stay off the Internet for a couple of days,” and told Fallon, “I was like, I’m a big boy…I’m tough. I handle s**t. I’m very tough. And so I look on the announcement, I look on the first comment, it’s like, ‘Ben Affleck is gonna be Batman.’ The first thing just goes, ‘NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!'”
Affleck insists the backlash is premature, but he also insisted he knows how to play the Batman director Zack Snyder envisions to eventually take on Superman in the sequel.
“I thought this is a brilliant way to do this, and I know just how to hook into this,” the actor said, allowing, “It’s a very hard thing to describe without giving away the story, and giving away what it is, but…this is something that is really exciting.”
The upcoming sequel, sometimes unofficially referred to as Superman Vs. Batman, is scheduled for a July 17, 2015 release.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio