The Batman franchise has had a long, storied career on film. We’ve run the gamut of many different directors, actors and writers (some better than others). However, there has been one constant through them all: Producer Michael Uslan.
Inevitably, when anyone references the upcoming Batman/Superman crossover, the subject always turns to the casting of Ben Affleck as Batman. In a recent interview, Uslan draws an interesting comparison to another past casting choice that seemed quite odd at the time (but worked out perfectly). “…all of a sudden the torches and the pitchforks go up, ‘oh my god, the guy that played the gay cowboy is going to be The Joker? They’re going to destroy the greatest super villain in history. And then after Heath Ledger’s performance, when they actually went to see it, nobody ever wanted The Joker played by another actor again.” He says.
The famed Bat-Producer also revealed his optimistic outlook of the upcoming Superman sequel to feature the first ever live-action face off of the two characters. He says, “I feel great. First of all, Zack’s a fan boy, and he loves these characters as much as any of us do. Everybody grows as filmmakers, as actors, all of us in life, if we don’t continue to evolve something is radically wrong, and it’s so interesting to see the evolution for everybody involved and to see the evolution of Batman, it’s exciting and everybody is pumped up about it. It’s a chance for a new direction, and it’s going to be something that people I think will be just so excited about.”
Other recent casting news includes Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and Jeremy Irons as Alfred.