Director Kevin Smith has just revealed that he wrote a feature film “Superman” for Ben Affleck a few years ago. The project will not finally see the light of day and the actor will later slip into the costume of … Batman!
Ben Affleck played Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. But did you know that the actor, years before, had almost played Superman? It is the director Kevin Smith who has just revealed this funny anecdote.
The project dates from the mid-90s, when the two men have just had a nice little success with the comedy Les Glandeurs. At this time, Warner Studios were working on a Superman film titled Superman Reborn, but Kevin Smith, who found the script “horrible”, then offers his version of the adventures of the DC superhero, based on the comic-book The Death of Superman. The writing is launched, a producer (Jon Peters) is even hired, but it is the casting which will be problematic.
“I was writing the screenplay for Ben Affleck”, says Kevin Smith at the microphone of Yahoo Entertainment. “He was preparing for the role. It’s like he’s already there. I believe he had already been mistaken for Armageddon. Affleck, he’s a fucking giant, he’s built like a superhero, like a giant action figure. And then he can gain muscle. So in my mind and heart it was Ben Affleck and Michael Rooker. “
In this interview, we learn that Kevin Smith not only wanted to see Ben Affleck in the role of Man of Steel, but also Michael Rooker in that of Lex Luthor. Producer Jon Peters had another idea in mind: Sean Penn, freshly Oscar winner for The Last Walk, in the costume of Superman.
“Jon was like, ‘Look at Sean Penn’s eyes in The Last Step, they’re haunted, they’re the eyes of a killer.”, says Kevin Smith. “But I was like, ‘Dude, it’s Superman. That’s not what most people think of Superman. “But he wanted to reinvent the character. He wanted something raw, graphic, and grown-up. Basically what Zack Snyder ultimately did later.”
In the end, Superman will be played by Brandon Routh in Superman Returns, then by Henry Cavill in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, Batman v Superman and Justice League. Ben Affleck, who plays the batman in the last two films mentioned, will find the role next November in The Flash.
To be completely complete, we remind you that he still (a little) played Superman: in Hollywoodland, Affleck slips into the skin of the actor Goerge Reeves, interpreter of the iconic superhero.
Ben Affleck is playing on “The Tender Bar”, available on Prime Video: