How Matt Reeves' Batman Movie Should Be Made

2. Recast Ben Affleck

Jon Hamm Baby Driver
Sony

When Ben Affleck was first cast as Batman it was as if the entire world lost their minds. Some decried it as an offence against The Dark Knight, whereas others exercised caution and were willing to wait to see what happened. While Affleck's performance turned out to be one of the best things about Batman v Superman - and even Justice League, to an extent - it's fair to say that it's fallen below expectation, owing to the very un-Batman like things Snyder's films have called for in their stories.

And while yes, it's probably true that Affleck deserves another shot under the cowl, this time with a competent script to work with, at this stage, his performance just carries too much baggage.

Countless other actors have been optioned for the part should Affleck leave, such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Armie Hammer and Luke Evans, but it's Jon Hamm who'd best embody the ferocity and emotional intensity of Bruce Wayne.

Known primarily for his role as Don Draper in TV's Mad Men, Hamm has shown time and again that he has a diverse acting set. His performance in Baby Driver, for instance, proved to be an unexpected highlight, with the actor being able to balance moments of calm with intense pangs of rage and distress. That's Batman in a nutshell right there, and with a glowing resume to boast when it comes to both TV and film, there are few replacements out there more suited to the role than he.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.