Batman V Superman: 10 Positives For The Future Of The DCEU
1. It Sets Up A Good New Batman And His World
It may not be a great DC movie or a great Justice League movie, but Batman V Superman actually contains the elements of a pretty decent Batman movie. Shorn of Lex's ridiculous schemes, the uninspiring Doomsday, and Lois' non-starter investigations, you'd have a movie that focuses on a deeply damaged older Batman trying to make sense of a world that now contains a being of godlike superpowers.
Despite the initial controversy, Ben Affleck makes a good Batman, obviously traumatised by the events of the past and with years as a masked vigilante beginning to take their toll on him. All the elements of the film that surround him are its strongest parts: the hand-to-hand brutality of his fight scenes, the design of his environment and costume, the relationship with Jeremy Irons' sarcastic Alfred as his long-suffering partner.
When you add in the casting of the charismatic J.K. Simmons as the new Commissioner Gordon (and possibly Jena Malone as his daughter Barbara/Batgirl), on top of the oddball rogue's gallery promised by Suicide Squad, you've got all the ingredients for a pretty good Batman, both as a solo movie and as the lead character in the DCEU as a whole.
Affleck, an Oscar winning writer and director let's not forget, has apparently already begun work on crafting a potential solo Batman movie, while the character appears likely to take the lead in the twin Justice League films. If the DCEU is going to be built around Batman, at least it's got a good version of the Dark Knight to work with.