The 7 Reasons Ben Affleck Needs to Be a Great Batman

We're less than 24 hours away from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and the anticipation to see how Ben Affleck does as the Caped Crusader is suddenly driving us half-insane. We've had almost three full years to adjust to the idea, and the WTF-ness of the original announcement has faded, only to flood our emotional radar again in full vivid color. Here's why, now more than ever, Ben Affleck needs to nail it as Batman.

1. It's important for the character
For the decade from 1995 to 2005, movie-Batman was in rough shape. George Clooney and (to a lesser extent) Val Kilmer were wrong for the part in two completely different ways, making it all the more relieving for Christian Bale and director Christopher Nolan to swoop in from England for Batman Begins. Bale, that shape-shifting Method madman, realigned the onscreen hero with his darkest—and purest, for some—comic book essence. It lasted a sensational seven years, and now The Bat's Hollywood stature hangs in the balance. Affleck dunking him back into that Batman Forever/Batman & Robin-shaped vat of acid would require more than a few years of recovery. This isn't Spider-Man, where you can just pick a new guy every few years with no consequences.