Batman Vs Batman

The Batman Debate

Ok so I thought I'd create this blog post to dispute the whole batman situation. A lot of people still prefer Christian Bale and wont give Ben Affleck the time of day as The Batman, I was dubious don't get me wrong but have been impressed with Ben Affleck over the last few years with his recent portrayals and told people don't judge until you actually see the character.

Well I was a little bit in awe when Zack Snyder dropped the first image of Ben Affleck in full costume with the Bat mobile behind him! 

At some point I really want to do a youtube review or at least a podcast of this because I think it would be brilliant!! If I get it started I'd seriously love to get in a room with some of my mates and debate this!
I know I want to get on-screen a debate between me and others about Batman Vs Superman and Independence Day: Resurgence!! A friend of mine believes that Independence Day: Resurgence is Brilliant but hates BvS!!

There were plot faults in the Theatrical version of BvS but I believe the extended makes it a slightly better movie but BvS is infinitely better than the rubbish sequel that is Independence Day Resurgence. I'll even go so far as saying is better than some of the Marvel Movies (controversy :) ) !!

OK this discussion concerns Batman vs Batman, The Dark Knight vs. The Batman, BatBale vs BatFleck!! This debate has been waged over many blogs, conversations even youtube!! I have had the same discussions with friends and work colleagues over the last year or so!!! 

Who is the better Batman!!Who would win in a fight between the two!!  Bale vs BatFleck

PLEASE BE AWARE THESE ARE MY OWN THOUGHTS AND OPINONS!

Starting off the previous cape and cowl wearer Christian Bale who appeared in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises:


The Look: In the first Batman begins, the first costume looked awesome and primal and over time the armour became more tactical than an original scare tactic. This is the first impressions of a sleek black live action costume and I think it looks impressive and is most probably what a billionaire would wear if they were fighting crime on the streets today.

The Gadgets:

• The Gear: The Batman's equipment is shown to be taken from the Research and Development section of Wayne Enterprises and is managed and developed by Lucius Fox and the only equipment that is shown to be handmade is the cowl and batarangs originally in Batman Begins and then it seems everything is developed by Lucius Fox. Grappling hooks, Batarangs, Sonar sensor etc.

The Vehicles:

• The Tumbler is an awesome bat mobile and completely different to anything seen on the big screen, it has now helped to develop bigger tank like bat mobiles in the comics and TV series and makes its presence felt in the Nolan batman series. It can drive through buildings and environments like a tank.

• The Bat Pod, was a nice idea for Nolan's Batman series and the way it ejected from the Tumbler during the Dark Knight movie, no one expected that! A little vehicle used which at times looks ridiculous and continued to use into Dark Knight Rises.

• The Bat, appears in the Dark Knight Rises and it was basically The Tumbler with wings, slow, clunky and cumbersome. How on earth it managed to outmanoeuvre and avoid Gotham PD helicopters is beyond me.

The Cave:

• The original Batcave that Bruce found as a young boy is re-shown in Batman Begins, we see Bruce rediscover it on his return to Gotham and then he builds it into his lair with 2 exits for the Tumbler through the waterfall and a secret elevator accessed by pressing keys on a piano behind a bookcase in Wayne Manor.

• The bunker base in The Dark Knight was used as Wayne Manor was still being rebuilt following the end of Batman Begins, it seemed to be a large underground bunker near the Gotham Docks that was accessed through a secret lift hidden in a shipping container - he also had a secret room hidden in his penthouse suite.

• The upgraded Batcave appears in the Dark Knight Rises and shows a new modern elevator and when in the cave the bridge to the computer terminal is submerged underwater until the authorised user ID's correctly, hear the Bat mobile, The Bat and all his equipment are stored in alcoves and cases.

His Bruce Wayne: Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne is aloof and tends to play the dumb playboy billionaire, who sometimes attends board meetings. Buying hotels and dating models. Also then disappearing for years in Batman Dark Knight Rises. I personally wasn't the biggest fan of Bale's Bruce Wayne.

His Alfred Pennyworth: A great performance from Michael Caine over the three movies as the caring and always dependable Alfred Pennyworth,

The Villains: Ras Al Ghul, Scarecrow, the Joker, Bane and Catwoman - a list of Batman's enemies
 all performed really well especially Heath Ledger's performance.

The Crime Fighting: A little bit of detective work and using stealth in the movies to achieve his goals and then good in a fist fight. Bale's batman tries to use the shadows to his advantage and only reveals himself when necessary. From learning how the Gotham crime family's act to investigating issues and fighting against sociopaths and mafia.




Now the most recent person to wear the Cape and Cowl in Batman vs Superman, Suicide Squad and Justice League, Ben Affleck:

The Look: The costume looks like its been pulled from the pages of the comic, Ben Affleck looks awesome in the costume! It looks textured and even with the little bat ears he looks intimidating. Ben Affleck looks big and bulky but I think that works for his on screen portrayal, we also get to see his super powered armoured look in BvS and a cool tactical armour look in Justice League.



The Gadgets: All of the gadgets we are assuming from Wayne Enterprises and or have been built or developed by Bruce Wayne and Alfred, they both seem very handy to be create and maintain equipment. We see equipment, armour and vehicles being repaired by them and new equipment being developed in Batman vs Superman ready for the battle between the Bat and Superman and new equipment and vehicles are created for Justice League. Such as the Armoured version of the suit, the Kryptonite spear, kryptonite gas bombs and custom launcher.


The Vehicles:

• The Bat mobile appears in Batman vs Superman and looks sleek and powerful and again looks like its been pulled straight from the comic books. This gets upgraded for the Justice League movie with a heavy cannon and seems to have more weapons than Bale's Tumbler. Also like the Tumbler can drive through buildings and environments to achieve its targets.

• The Bat Wing appears in Batman Vs Superman near the end of the movie, sleek and powerful just like the bat mobile of this world and a far better vehicle compared to Bale's the Bat (in my opinion). Also had missiles and machine guns loaded on the front and could be remote controlled by Alfred.

The Cave:

• In this version of the Bat Cave, Bruce is not based under Wayne Manor, but is based in the grounds of Wayne manor. When Wayne Manor burned down in the unspecified fire Bruce and Alfred moved to a modern glass house which was situated above the Bat Cave. It has a long access tunnel which is used to launch the Bat mobile and we think Bat Wing, it also has what looks like a memorial chamber where the batman and former robin costumes stand, while an upper level has a workshop and the Bat computer. In Justice League it is shown there is also a large hangar hidden inside the Batcave that holds the flying fox and other vehicles. 

Their Bruce Wayne: Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne we see is involved in his company and from what we see gets stuck in with work such as helping his employees at the start of Batman V Superman, but also carries the air of a socialite.

Their Alfred Pennyworth: Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth is Bruce's best friend and mentor like Michael Caine's performance but Irons brings a more hands on approach and he handles all jobs such as updating the Bat suit and piloting the Bat Wing.

The Villains:  Joker, Lex Luthor, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, the Penguin, Killer Croc and Deathstroke - Immediately this Batman has a lot of villains and a lot of history with all the characters. Joker/Harley killed Robin, we see Deadshot arrested by Batman, Penguin mentioned in Justice League and a small cameo appearance from Deadshot at the end of Justice League. We need to see more of these villains and it sounds like as the DC Universe grows we'll see more of these fun but dark and interesting characters.


The Crime Fighting: A lot of detective work, investigating the White Portuguese and identifying the involvement of Lex Luthor in Batman Vs Superman, fighting crime in Gotham from the shadows and chasing bad guys in the bat mobile to fighting against Superman, a giant doomsday monster, supposedly beating a group of super powered villains in Suicide Squad and aliens in Justice League. This Batman has been involved in many fights and showed his style during Batman vs Superman in the Warehouse fight scene that lots of Batman fans will remember fondly for years to come this is the style of fighting from batman we want to see in the future.


THE VERDICT: My honest opinion Ben Affleck is the better Batman and also Ben Afflecks Batman could potentially beat Christian Bale's batman if they ever went head to head...warehouse scene just saying!!
Just to confirm I'm not saying Christian Bale's batman is poor far from it. Christian Bale's Batman in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is a live action and a more realistic interpretation of how a Batman in real life would act. Christian Bale and like so many other actors before him brought something different or new to the role, Christian Bale introduced us to his take on a rough spoken gritty batman.

Ben Affleck's version of the character is based on an older Batman whose been battling the criminals of Gotham for 20 years and has even seen his Robin die. The character is dark has a lot of emotional story behind the scenes and a lot of unanswered stories. Ben Affleck's Batman is literally ripped from the comic books, the dark story, the look and feel of his Batman and Bruce Wayne we wanted a dark noir character and we just need a standalone Batman movie.

Been trying to write this for a few months adding to it bit by bit, and with all the questions recently being asked about whether Ben Affleck should quit as the character as he had quit as the director of The Batman when Matt Reeves was brought in. I'd like to see him continue as the DC Universe's Batman but I respect he may not want to do the role for the next 10 years as he has already been in the role since 2015/2016 and he's 46 at the moment.

With recent posts surrounding the future of Batman and Superman there's been a lot of comments and opinions but neither Warner Brothers or DC have officially confirmed that Ben Affleck OR Henry Caville have left the roles and until they say so I will keep hopeful as I like both actors.

The rumours concerning The Batman movie which will be out in 2021 are saying it will be a new younger Batman in the role and possibly Ben Affleck may return as an older version as we saw in Justice League or he may not return in future we don't know.

If Ben Affleck's heart is no longer in it and doesn't want to continue I still think he's a great actor and has brought something to the role. I think we as fans want to know what's happening with Warner Brothers and are excited with the recent Aquaman movie and looking forward to a self contained Batman story. 

If Ben Affleck is to return as the Dark Knight I'll be one of the Batman fans happy, if not we Batman fans will understand, we just hope the next Batman follows Ben Affleck's taking on board what the actor has brought to the role and also the actor and director follow the detective driven aspect as seen in Batman Vs Superman and also follows the brutal brawler style of combat! Think a lot of Batman fans will agree with me there!

Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel DLLorenzo!

Feel free to contact me concerning any thing Batman related :)

https://www.quora.com/Who-is-the-better-Batman-Ben-Affleck-or-Christian-Bale
https://movieweb.com/batman-ben-affleck-vs-christian-bale/
https://warcircle.com/war/Who-played-a-better-batman-Ben-Affleck-Christian-Bale-271
http://whatculture.com/film/8-reasons-why-christian-bales-batman-is-better-than-ben-afflecks
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/christian-bale-ben-affleck-whos-the-best-batman