Ben Affleck and Zack Snyder talk "insane" Batman v Superman criticism

Following the online chatter on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice for the past two years has been a fascinating experience. From trailer reveals to rumours about nervous studio heads and much more, there has been a lot of negativity surrounding the highly anticipated DC film.

It all began with the casting of Ben Affleck as Batman, a decision which wasn't initially met with a great deal of fan approval. Perception has turned around on that front since then, and with Batman v Superman's release now imminent, Affleck is confident that the film will go down well with audiences.

"Nobody tweeted about Casablanca, and look at how they did", the actor told The LA Times. "From directing movies myself, at this point I always feel too enmeshed with it, where I get this panicked sense of like, ‘Is it good? It’s horrible, right? It’s going to bomb.’ But I have a little more sense of remove from this. I feel relaxed and I’m proud of the movie and excited for people to see it. It’s a much nicer feeling. I’m so glad I’m not Zack."

For his part, director Zack Snyder seems to have made his peace with the constant online scrutiny; "The tweets, comments, articles, blogs — it's insanity... But mostly I just go, "Thank God they're talking about the movie." The fact that they care enough to get online and either rage or praise — that's just cool for the culture, for the fans."

Thankfully, the time for speculation is almost over, and soon we'll be able to see for ourselves if Affleck's confidence in Batman v Superman is warranted. From everything I've seen so far, he's got nothing to worry about.

Directed by Zack Snyder and starring Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Diane Lane, Gal Gadot, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Laurence Fishburne, and Amy Adams, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will arrive in UK and US cinemas on March 25, 2016.

Images: Warner Bros.

Amon is a contributing editor and columnist for Empire magazine, but is also a Film and TV writer for GamesRadar+, Total Film, and others. He has also written for NME, Composer Mag, and more, along with being a film critic for TalkSport. He is also the co-host of the Fade to Black Podcast, and a video mashup creator. Can also do a pretty good Bane impersonation.