Film industry bible Variety reports that Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment have signed Ben Affleck to play the Caped Crusader in the upcoming Superman/Batman crossover film (or, in Variety parlance, B.Aff’s Boffo Bat Bonanza!). Are you down with this casting decision, or do you think it’s a bad idea? Vote in our poll.

As far as I’m aware, this will make Affleck the only actor to don the iconic costumes for both Superman (as he did in the movie ‘Hollywoodland‘, where he played actor George Reeves) and now Batman. Still, he strikes me as an odd choice. Although I think he might be a fairly good fit as the wealthy playboy Bruce Wayne side of the character, I have trouble picturing him in the Batsuit – especially after how badly his attempt to play a costumed crimefighter in ‘Daredevil‘ went.

He also strikes me as being a little too old now to play dress-up like this, unless the character’s age will be specifically addressed in the story, as it was in Frank Miller’s ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ comic.

After audiences burned out on him as a movie star, Affleck has tried in recent years to reinvent himself as an A-List filmmaker. You’d think that he’d want to capitalize on the Best Picture win for ‘Argo’ with another Oscar bait drama that might finally nab him a Best Director nomination (if not win). This seems like really bad timing to put on tights and a cape if he wants the Academy to take him seriously. On the other hand, Affleck was rumored to be in talks with DC and Warner to direct the eventual ‘Justice League’ superhero team-up flick (which is practically guaranteed to be a billion-dollar blockbuster), so maybe signing on to play Batman in this one is a negotiating tactic towards that. (Zack Snyder was already confirmed to direct the Superman/Batman movie.)

Despite some career missteps he’s made over the years, I kind of like Affleck, both as an actor and a director. I’m not sure how this will work out, but I’ll reserve judgment for now and wait to see how it looks closer to the 2015 release date.

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A friend of mine on Facebook found this great quote from 2006:

By playing a superhero in Daredevil, I inoculated myself from ever playing another superhero. Wearing a costume was a source of humiliation for me and something I wouldn’t want to do again.
– Ben Affleck

Feel free to use the Comments section of this post to make “Caped Crusadah” jokes about Affleck’s Boston accent.