Many of us aren’t happy about Ben Affleck being cast as Batman in “Superman vs. Batman: Dawn of Justice,” but there’s nothing that we can do about it except boycott the film and dream about all of the other actors who should have been cast instead of Affleck. We’ve already started dreaming about who we think would have made a better Batman. Unfortunately for us, there is no way that Affleck is going to be replaced in the middle of shooting. We can still dream though. Here are 10 actors who would have made a much better Batman had they been given the chance!
10. Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling was heavily considered to play Batman, but he declined because he doesn’t do films that have sequels. We wish he would have reconsidered though – he obviously has the acting chops and the screen presence to headline a franchise like this.
9. Taylor Kitsch
Taylor Kitsch would have been a better Batman than Ben Affleck. He is not nearly as famous as Affleck and he has the brooding thing down. Also, he’s pretty young, so he doesn’t have to worry about reaching his 50s while playing the Dark Knight.
8. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt played John Blake in “The Dark Knight Rises,” which probably disqualified him from consideration for Batman in “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.” We think he would have made a much better Batman than Ben Affleck. He’s got way more range and much more of a fan base.
7. Josh Brolin
Josh Brolin was in talks to play Batman in “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” but both sides decided that it wasn’t a good fit. We think that he would have been a much better Batman than Ben Affleck. He’s a fantastic actor and he’s quite manly.
6. Jon Hamm
Jon Hamm has said that he was almost cast as in a few superhero roles, but he turned each one down. If one of those was Batman, we think he made a huge mistake. He has everything Ben Affleck has and more. Have you seen Hamm in “Mad Men?” He does tortured and brooding to perfection. All he needs to do to play Batman is get in shape!
5. Matthew Goode
Matthew Goode was rumored to be under consideration for the role of Batman. He had a role in Zach Snyder’s “Watchmen” – he played Ozymandias. We don’t know why they decided to go with Ben Affleck instead of Goode. He has more recent experience in the comic book-turned-movie genre.
4. Tom Hardy
Even though Tom Hardy already played Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises,” we think he deserves another opportunity to really show us what he can do with a comic book character. We think he would make a much better Batman than Ben Affleck. He has the range and he also has experience bulking up. Sadly, this kind of big franchise would probably turn him off. He already dropped out of the DC movie “Suicide Squad.”
3. Christian Bale
Christian Bale wasn’t happy when he heard that Ben Affleck was going to be taking over the role of Batman. For a moment there, he was actually kind of jealous. We would have preferred if Bale had never given that role up to begin with. He is Batman!
2. Michael Fassbender
If you’ve seen “300” or “Shame” then you know why we think Michael Fassbender would have been the perfect Batman. He not only has the body of a superhero, but he has also demonstrated that he can brood on command. Why he was not even considered for the role of Batman, we’ll never understand.
1. Joe Manganiello
Joe Manganiello was considered for the role Superman in “Man of Steel,” but he reportedly had to say no to the part because of scheduling conflicts with “True Blood.” He was also considered to play Batman in the film’s sequel, but lost out to Affleck. We’re going to assume that there was another scheduling conflict cause he has everything it takes to play Batman.
