Not since the decision to cast Michael Keaton as Batman in Tim Burton’s 1989 film, have so many fan boys gone batty over the decision to cast Ben Affleck as the new Batman. History is repeating itself but this time on a much grander scale. In 1989 the internet was nowhere near its commercial use and fans penned letters to Warner Bros. voicing their disdain about Keaton. Now the focus has fallen on Ben Affleck, who very recently was announced as the new face of Batman to be seen in 2015’s yet untitled Man of Steel sequel. Opinion is fiercely divided and to the extent that 84,000 people have signed a petition against Warner Bros. and their decision to cast Affleck as the new Dark Knight.

Some might be inclined to think that Affleck is coming in second best, based on the fact that Warner initially wanted Bale to reprise the role so much so that they offered him $50 million dollars. After the Dark Knight Rises concluded Chris Nolan’s trilogy, Bale officially stated that he was through playing Batman and true to his word, despite being offered one of the fattest pay checks in the history of film, he refused to return. Many names were subsequently thrown out there – Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin to name a few. But the biggest surprise has come with Affleck and if life has taught the human race anything, it is that history repeats itself. Keaton was initially canned and yet successful. The odds are thus in Affleck’s favour.

The biggest problem from the side of the Bat fanatics is that they seem to be weighing up the success of the franchise against one actor and this is not fair. The recent Dark Knight trilogy was immensely successful for a number of reasons and not just because Bale was so amazing.  The Dark Knight films worked because the right people all congregated under one roof and pooled their resources. This ultimately is the key to the success of any Hollywood endeavour – the right people. The recent success of Man of Steel has proven this too and it’s safe to assume that if the same creative team is behind the new film with the right script, actors, director and production values, then the Bat fans have nothing to fear by Affleck’s casting.

The general lucrative nature of the Batman franchise is sure to generate box office gold. The Batman name lends credibility as a solid franchise so much so that The Dark Knight Rises was recently made into an online slot game, with potential plans to make it into a mobile slots game too. At the end of the day, fans have little to fear by Affleck’s donning of the mask of Batman – he has the two essential qualities required for the role – the grit to be Batman and the charm to be Bruce Wayne. Plus, his recent string of films have all garnered critical and commercial success.