Ben Affleck Weighs In On The Very Mixed Reactions To 'Batman V Superman'

Batman and Superman's actual battle in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice may have been over in minutes, but the debate over the movie has raged on. It's certainly one of the most divisive films of the year, drawing both fervent critics and passionate defenders. But what does Batman himself make of the movie? In a recent interview, Ben Affleck shared his thoughts on Batman v Superman and the severely mixed reaction it's received since it opened in march. 

Affleck spilled his thoughts on Batman v Superman in a chat with FOX 5's Kevin McCarthy.

It's interesting. It was a huge hit movie. So many more people went to see that than any movie I've made in my career. It was the biggest hit of my career. And then it had so much editorial negativity.

Fans went, and I got a lot of positive response. It was interesting, that movie, because it was judged not necessarily on execution so much as like its tone. People seemed to want to have a lighter tone to the movie, and I thought that was interesting because that's so subjective. Tone is not a qualitative thing. It's subjective, right? Some tones resonate with me that might not with you. And the tone of the movie was really parallel to the Frank Miller book [The Dark Knight Returns], which I liked and thought was great. I'm glad that so many people went and so many people liked the movie.

To be clear, Affleck was definitely one of those people who liked the movie. "Yeah. Yeah, I loved it," he said.

While Affleck mentions "editorial negativity," he stops short of trotting out that tired and disingenuous "we made it for the fans" line, so thank you for that, Mr. Affleck. Setting that side, I think Affleck's right about the tone being the main sticking point for a lot of fans. Batman v Superman's dark and downbeat vibe is no accident — part of the point of the movie, for better or for worse, seems to be that these versions of Batman and Superman are trying to make their way through a gloomy and pessimistic universe.

But none of that is much consolation to moviegoers who just wanted to see a more lighthearted, upbeat version of this story. It's not that Snyder necessarily failed to make the movie he wanted to make, but that lots of fans didn't want the movie he wanted to make.

You can watch Affleck's comments about Batman v Superman starting at the 1:46 mark.