The NEW Batman.

A rant... so strap in...

Yesterday's events... Joss' opinion on the ending of ESB, Bradley Cooper's probable casting as the voice of Rocket Raccoon and the biggie, Ben Affleck being named the next Batman has made me realize just how absolutely insane some of you people are.

Seriously. I'm not joking. Some of you people have absolutely ZERO CLUE as to what you're talking about. But I thank you in advance for making weeding you out easier.

Let's start with Whedon and move from there.

So Joss apparently was quoted as saying that he was "appalled by the the ending of Empire because it didn't have an ending."

It didn't folks. And he was referring to being appalled as a kid. Trust me, all of you whining about this right now were too, just that "appalling" is too strong a word for some of you. At least those of you who were old enough to see these films in the theaters in their original run, which most of you weren't. You had the instant gratification of being able to pop in the VHS cassette or the DVD. You didn't have to wait 3 years like a lot of us did. So yes, his perspective is pretty dead on. Did he say that made the movie awful? No. In fact, he's also quoted as saying how brilliant that film is and it is his favorite of all of the SW films. But as usual, Nerdom loses their shit when someone says something slightly negative about a "sacred cow". But from what I can tell, this quote is out of context. And even if it wasn't. It's still an opinion. It doesn't change how you feel about ESB. It doesn't change the fact that it's nearly flawless to me. And yes, I can back Joss up and say that in May of 1980, on opening day when I saw it at the Cherry Hill Mall (the small theater inside, any of my peeps back home remember that one?) when I walked out of that theater, I had more questions then answers and I was pissed I needed to wait 3 years to get my closure.

So yea... I was pissed it didn't have an ending too. Going to drag my name through the mud too? Go ahead... it wouldn't be the first time and it likely won't be the last.

Moving on... Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon.

To put it simply, Cooper is a damn fine actor. If you haven't seen "Silver Linings Playbook", go watch it. There's not many actors who could upstage Robert DeNiro, and Cooper did. Let's not to mention the guy is funny too. Wedding Crashers, The Hangover Trilogy... even the A-Team he was great. "American Hustle" looks freaking fantastic as well.

And lets be honest. He's a good looking Dude and the fact that he won't physically be on screen is kind of a big deal. Did I pick Cooper? No. In fact, this was the first of two big surprises in Nerdom yesterday. I honestly was pulling for David Tennant as Rocket's voice. But I'm OK with Cooper. From what I've seen of "Guardians of the Galaxy", it could very well be MARVEL's best yet!

OK... now for the biggie. Not to be outshined by MARVEL's Cooper rumor, WB decided to unveil their new Batman last night. I was at Dinner with friends when my buddy Patrick (and soon to be Partner in crime with our Podcast) texted me this:

AFFLECK!!!

Initially I thought it was about the Rocket Raccoon rumor and he wound up being the voice. But when I asked "What about him?", I received another one word answer:

BATMAN!!!

Honestly, my reaction of being stunned turned quickly to acceptance and actually happiness with the choice. He wasn't on our radar. He's an EXCELLENT ACTOR. Seriously folks. Are you judging him by his Kevin Smith movies? Are you judging him for "Daredevil"? Really? Eric Bana is a fantastic actor, but "The Incredible Hulk" was AWFUL.

Let's take it a step further. Affleck hasn't just proven himself with acting lately. He's become an amazing Director. "Gone baby Gone", "The Town" and "Argo". The reality is, the man has grown leaps and bounds from the "Gigli" days. Dismissing someone who could actually get a decent performance out of Blake Lively is being naive.

And let's take it a bit farther... Do you really think Kevin Smith will let him not respect that character? You cannot lay the blame of daredevil on Affleck, so just fucking stop with that shit. He was not to blame for that film being the mess it was. Daredevil came at a time when Comic Book movies were still trying to break out after the shitstorm that was "Batman & Robin". Raimi's "Spider-Man" and Singer's "X-Men" were there, but even those were far from perfect.

We all knew Bale wasn't returning and if he truly turned down $50 million to return, I respect him all the more. This will be a NEW Batman. We can't compare it to Bale. Bale's batman was not even the real batman, as much as I loved it, it still wasn't perfect and we may never get that perfect batman. But to automatically assume Affleck is wrong IS wrong.

How many people lost their shit when...

1. Daniel Craig was cast as Bond? His 3 turns as Bond have grossed $2.2 Billion. The rest of the Franchise (21 films) have grossed $3.9 Billion. Three films have grossed nearly half of what 21 films did.

2. Heath Ledger cast as the Joker. It left people scratching their heads until the film was released. When I saw footage at WW Chicago in 2007 (they were still filming) in a closed panel. I returned to my table in Artist Alley, turned to my friend Andy Price and said "Heath Ledger will win an Oscar for playing the Joker". 6 months before his death, a full year before the film came out. And keep in mind, there was VERY little dialogue in that tease we saw and none of it was from The Joker. I got a vibe from it. I attached that footage to this post.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rw3-0…

I wish folks would just let things play out. If he's terrible, which i doubt hew will be, pass judgement afterward. We've become a world of cynical assholes who need instant gratification and need to have their demands met IMMEDIATELY or all hell breaks loose. To the point where anyone with a shitty attitude towards something can post a petition to remove an actor from a role barely an hour after he was announced as that character.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?

Now, I'm done defending Ben. I think he'll kick ass in the role. I have faith in his ability not to screw this up... We need to worry more about the material and the approach Goyer and Snyder go with it. I also have to imagine he'll be sitting down with Kevin Smith. Do you think he'll let Affleck mess this up? I doubt it. Let things Play out, folks. We're in a time were great actors WANT to be the characters we love!

And... for shits and giggles, as much as I love Batman (I've stated publicly I would kill a Hobo to draw Batman if I had to), just remember this:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPIsSN…