Ben Affleck pokes fun at himself by doing his impression ofChristian Bale’s Batman voicefor last night’sRed Nosespecial on NBC. The charity was hosted by Chris Hardwick and featured a ton of celebrities from different fields giving their time to raise money for children all over the world. Affleck came on to answer questions from kids in the comedy sketch and the results are pretty hilarious. The fan debate overAffleck’s Batmanvs. Bale’s Batman is no secret and will often elicit violent verbal jousts from said fans, so it’s always nice to see theBatmanstars have a little fun with the debate.
In the clip, a child asks for Ben Affleck to do theBatmanvoice and Affleck obliges, but the child is not satisfied. “No! Do it the way Christian Bale does it,” the child says.Ben Afflecklooks at the camera for a second, coughs, and attempts Bale’s gravelly take onBatman, repeating the same phrase for the kid. After he’s finished the kid, unimpressed, suggests that maybe Bale should just do it instead. Affleck responds by saying that “he’s not available so…” Affleck had told People magazine earlier this month that he would be doing his Dark Knight voice for the charity and recognized how much fun it is to havefun with a characterthat is so self-aware and serious.
The child in the clip seems to echo the sentiment of most fans ofBatman. There’s a large camp that believe that Bale is the quintessential Batman and that Affleck is seen as second tier. While some fans will argue that Michael Keaton was the best in Tim Burton’s zany recreation ofBatmanin 1989. It all comes down to personal preference and more than likely which Batman you grew up with, but it is hard to argue against the darkness that Bale and director Christopher Nolan finally brought to the Batman cinematic universe. That said, fans have yet to see Affleck carry a standaloneBatmanmovie, so time will tell whether Affleck end up on the Mt. Rushmore of Batman.
DC’s standaloneThe Batmanhas appeared to have its share of bumps in the road. Last year it was announced that Affleck was no longer attached as director and writer for the movie. Affleck told fans that he needed his dedication and focus to be able to portray the Dark Knight with theauthenticitythat it deserves, so he backed out of the director’s chair to focus on the acting. It has also been reported that a script that had seen many rewrites was allegedly thrown in the garbage, so there might not even be a script.
The Red Nose clip is a perfect way to remind everyone that it’s all entertainment. There’s no need to take a fictional character so seriously when there’s children suffering all over the world, so hopefully the clip makes people laugh and open their wallets to donate to Red Nose. Check out the clip below.
