‘Batman V. Superman’: Ben Affleck And Warner Bros. Defend Film, Record Broken, Affleck’s Son Thinks Superman Is This Actor

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has been out for a few days now, and the reviews are coming in for DC Comics latest comic book adaptation and the 11th live-action Batman film.

Batman v Superman has been getting mixed reviews that, from the audience and fan perspective, have been more than moderately good. However, the critics have been brutal. IMDb has Batman v Superman at a respectable 7.4 out of 10 stars, and similarly, Rotten Tomatoes has the new Batman film at 3.8 out of 5. The Rotten Tomatoes score from the critics was a 29 percent or 5 out 10-star rating. According to Comicbook, Batman v Superman star Ben Affleck defended the film against its harsh critics.

“Don’t scare people into thinking this is a critical film! We’re not going for the film critics circle or whatever. This is an audience movie! People are actually gonna like this movie!”

Batman v Superman, like other comic book films, isn’t going to be Oscar material, and that is likely what Affleck was alluding to. Although Ben Affleck’s comments seem harmless, care-free, and non-confrontational, Warner Bros. sounded more like they were doing damage control than promoting Batman v Superman.

Warner Bros. domestic distribution chief Jeff Goldstein had this to say about the harsh critic reviews of the film.

“There is no question this is an extraordinary achievement. Clearly, audiences have embraced it and we are already seeing repeat business. It’s just fun. Often, there’s a disconnect between critics and audiences.”

Warner Bros., unlike Affleck, sound like they are sending the wrong signal about their biggest and most important comic book outing of the next decade. Although there is some truth to the fact that film critics are often harsher on comic book adaptations than fans, the box office weekend numbers are not looking too great either.

Batman v Superman was preceded by lofty trailers and a ton of excitement by DC Comics fans and Batman fans alike, but the film managed to break even with the lackluster, disappointing film Fantastic Four. Batman v Superman managed to take in $84 million at the beginning of its opening weekend, and BVS finished the weekend with only $37 million, which is considered a record-breaking 38 percent Friday-to-Sunday drop that was last held by the newest Fantastic Four film.

The last big Batman outing, The Dark Knight Rises, was the former record holder prior to Batman v Superman and Fantastic Four.

Although the critics aren’t buying Batman v Superman, Ben Affleck’s son is a different story.

“My son was very in awe about Henry. He stood there just watching him for a little while and then said to me, ‘That’s the real Superman?’ I was tempted to ask Henry to fly.”

After all, Affleck took the role of Batman because of his son’s love of the character, or at least that was part of the reason, as the Inquisitr reported earlier this month.

It is unclear if any particular character is to blame for the harsh reception from critics, but one such villain had another actor considered for that part. Jesse Eisenberg was not the only Lex Luthor considered for the newest version of the Superman villain. Brian Cranston, formerly of Breaking Bad, was among the Lex Luthor rumors that would not die. Even after Brian Cranston stated that he had never spoken to Warner Bros., Zack Snyder, or anyone involved with the film, they persisted.

Snyder put the whole Brian Cranston/Lex Luthor issue to bed.

“We talked about the usual suspects that you would imagine; any actor who has been bald, probably Bryan Cranston would have been great, right? And by the way, he’s an amazing actor. Can you imagine how different the movie would be?”

By that measure, Mr. Clean was an option at one time, but Snyder’s comments do validate the popular BVS rumor. Would the critics have been nicer to the film if Cranston emerged as Lex Luthor?

[Image via Warner Bros.]