Ben Affleck Talks Batman Backlash: Watch Actor Open Up On Jimmy Fallon Show [VIDEO]

When Ben Affleck was cast as Batman in the sequel to the Superman blockbuster "Man of Steel" Batman fans reacted negatively to the news Affleck would be taking on the role. Jokes and Memes popped up poking fun at the "Argo" actor but until recently Affleck remained quiet about the role. Ben Affleck appeared on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" and briefly discussed his reaction to all the negative comments. The Superman sequel will see the Dark Knight go up against the Man of Steel for the first time in a live action, big budget movie.

Christian Bale has most recently taken on the role of Batman. He played the caped crusader in three films beginning in 2005 with "Batman Begins." Bale put on the cowl for the final time in 2012 for "The Dark Knight Rises." No longer wanting to be Batman Bale gave his blessing for another actor to don the mantel of the Dark Knight. Internet reaction was swift when it was announced Ben Affleck would be assuming the role of Batman in "Man of Steel 2." The actor and director was approached for the role by "Man of Steel" director Zach Snyder.

Speaking with Jimmy Fallon Affleck said he was skeptical about the role at first because of his age. Batman is typically portrayed as a young, vibrant young man. "They called me up and said 'do you want to do this?' and I thought, 'well, I'm not 25, are you sure about this?' They said come down, we want to show you what we're doing," Affleck told Fallon. After he was shown the plans for the "Man of Steel" version of Batman, Affleck said he was excited and knew he could pull off the role.

"I thought, 'this is brilliant way to do this, and I really know how to hook into it'. So I said 'OK, I want to do it'. And people from the studio were like 'we're thrilled, so excited," Affleck said. Then Affleck addressed the elephant in the room and told Fallon the movie's creators tried to prepare him for some of the backlash he would face once the announcement confirming his casting was made. "They said 'listen, we want to talk to you because people go through this process, and it can be trying', and I said 'what do you mean?'. They said 'we want to show you some of the reactions that people who have been cast [in the past] have gotten on the internet."

Affleck told Fallon some of the comments left about past casting choices were harsh. "And they were like KILL HIM," Affleck said of the comments. Affleck told the "Man of Steel" producers that he would be able to handle any negative comments that were thrown his way. "So I'm like 'I'm a big boy. If I can handle an Emmy snub, I can handle anything'. They said 'don't go on the internet for a couple of days', and I said 'I handle sh*t, I'm very tough."

Naturally curious about what Batman fans thought of his casting as the superhero, Affleck went online to see what people were saying. Admittedly Affleck made a mistake with that choice. "I look at the first comment after it says 'Ben Affleck is going to be Batman' and it just says 'Nooooooooooo!'. I'm like 'OK, I'm done! We're going to be Luddites for a while kids," Affleck told Fallon laughing the whole time.

Affleck wanted to keep defending his own casting as Batman but said he would not be able to explain why he is the right choice without giving too much of the story line away. Affleck has done some amazing work in his career and some things that he probably should have passed on (cough, "Gigli," cough) but let us remember this, people were equally outraged when Heath Ledger was cast as the joker. It is hard to picture anybody else taking on the role of the psychotic clown after Ledger but when the announcement was first made a collective "WTF" was heard across the web.

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