STACK Mar #137

12 / 99

visit
12 MARCH 2016
B en Affleck dons the cowl to take
on Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel
in the duo’s first big screen
pairing: Batman v Superman: Dawn of
Justice.
When STACK meets with Zack Snyder,
the director makes it quite clear that
Christian Bale was never an option to play
Batman in this comic book clash of the
superheroes.
“Our film is a total and opposite reality
from the Chris Nolan movies; it’s another
universe, so we couldn’t hire Christian Bale
if we wanted to because he doesn’t exist
in our world. Maybe we could hire him to
play another part. We did talk briefly about
hiring Christian to play another part just to
make that obvious. Christian could play
like Alfred with age makeup. No! Of course
not. But you know what I mean.”
While Nolan’s Batman movies are
beloved by fans, Snyder is keen to explain
the departure in style.
“Superman would have had a hard time
existing in the Batman universe that Chris
created. That’s why we did a reboot on the
universe, to allow these characters to exist
together.”
With Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin both
mooted to play Batman, news of Ben
Affleck’s casting was originally met by
angry protest from fans, proclaiming he
wasn’t right for the role. However, Snyder
believes Affleck will change everyone’s
mind.
“I really wanted an old Batman, and
not like decrepit, but world-weary like he’s
had experience, and I think Ben’s really hit
that. He’s a movie star now in the greatest
definition of the word. He has gravitas. And
we’ve greyed his hair a little and made him
look a bit rough and rugged. He’s a great
actor and he’s a big person. He’s all of 6’4”
and in the boots he’s 6’6”. I don’t like a
small Batman. I like my Batmen bigger.”
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is in
cinemas on March 24. Check out more Cinema
news and reviews from page 16.
GUNN's BLAZING
G unn's Facebook salvo was prompted by
an article on Deadline, in which an
unnamed studio exec praised the box
office success of Ryan Reynolds’ R-rated
superhero movie, saying no-one had ever poked
fun at Marvel in such away before.
Gunn is clearly a big fan of Deadpool,
describing it as “hilariously funny” and saying
it was “exactly what we need right now, taking
true risks in spectacle film”. However, as well as
pointing out it was not the first Marvel movie to
take a self-deprecating approach to the source
material, he feared that the success of Deadpool
would just inspire a series of inferior copies.
“Deadpool was its own thing,” Gunn writes.
“THAT'S what people are reacting to. It's
original, it's damn good, it was made with love
by the filmmakers, and it wasn't afraid to take
risks.
“Over the next few months, you'll see
Hollywood misunderstanding the lesson they
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn loves the new
Marvel movie Deadpool, but has also fired off a broadside against
Hollywood’s no-risk approach to spectacle movies.
should be learning with Deadpool. They'll be
green lighting films 'like Deadpool' – but, by
that, they won't mean ‘good and original’, but ‘a
raunchy superhero film’ or ‘it breaks the fourth
wall’. They'll treat you like you're stupid, which is
the one thing Deadpool didn't do.
“Spectacle films need to expand their
definition of what they can be. They need the
unique and true voices of the filmmakers behind
them. They can't just be copying what came
before them.”
Gunn has commenced principal photography
on the sequel to 2014's Guardians of the
Galaxy, which is due in cinemas in May next
year. On Twitter, the director shared a publicity
photo of the intrepid space heroes, with the
heartwarming sight of baby Groot, alive and well
atop Drax's shoulder.
Gunn has also revealed that Kurt Russell
has joined the cast for Guardians of the Galaxy
Volume 2, with speculation that the screen
veteran will be playing the father of Chris
Pratt's Star Lord. In a BBC interview, Gunn also
gave away that there will be more of Nebula
(Karen Gillan), the wicked sister of Gamora (Zoe
Saldana).
Additionally, Melbourne-raised – and recent
Victorian College of the Arts graduate –
Elizabeth Debicki has scored a role, fresh from
appearances in Guy Ritchie's The Man from
U.N.C.L.E. and Justin Kurzel's Macbeth.
John Ferguson
CINEMA NEWS
CINEMA
James Gunn, Chris Pratt and Zoe
Saldana workshopping the script for
Guardians of the GalaxyVol 2.
BATMAN BEN