Following the announcement that Ben Affleck will play Batman, fans went through the stages of grief. People didn’t want to believe it, then they got pissed off, and now they seem to be coming to terms with it. While Affleck may be a talented director with solid acting skill, many people believe that he lacks the nuance to nail the character. We’ll have to wait to see. It turns out that Affleck may have more than just a single movie in which to impress us. He’s said to have signed a multi-picture deal and to have worked out an arrangement where he has script approval. He’s business savvy that’s for sure.

Snyder approached Affleck months ago, reports THR. Affleck would not take on this role unless he had some say in how this script turns out. He will have a strong hand at Warner Bros., which backed him on “The Town” and the Oscar-winning “Argo” and is invested in telling the town he’s sticking around the studio. Affleck signed for multiple pictures. If this works out he’ll have a major franchise to play with for years ahead. And a major studio where he can hang his hat, as his hero Clint Eastwood has done for decades.

Affleck tends to do better as an actor in his own pictures–which are often smarter than average studio fare. He shared a screenwriting Oscar with Matt Damon, after all, for “Good Will Hunting.” The irony: Affleck turned down directing “Man of Steel.” And did fine as George Reeves, TV’s Superman, in little-seen “Hollywoodland.” The LAT looks at which of his past roles prepared him for this one.

He can do this. Fans are reportedly 70% against this casting, but they opposed Michael Keaton and Robert Downey, Jr. initially, too, as Batman and Iron Man, respectively. Joss Whedon, the EW cover man and Marvel’s “The Avengers” writer-director, gives trending #Batfleck a thumbs up. While Affleck is still on board to star in David Fincher’s “Gone Girl” opposite Rosamund Pike (“The World’s End”), he’s letting go of the remake of Guillaume Canet’s “Tell No One” (based on Harlen Coben’s book) and his adaptation of Stephen King tome “The Stand.” (“Crazy Heart” writer-director Scott Cooper is picking up the rewrite.) Affleck is hanging onto his plans to direct Dennis Lehane’s “Live By Night” at Warners.

[From IndieWire via Reddit]

So Affleck cleared up his schedule so he could play Batman in several movies. I like Affleck in his own films but it’s hard for me to see how his Batman won’t be wooden. Whatever his plans are, he wants to make bank from this franchise. You can’t blame him for that. I just thought he was going in a different direction with his career. He’s laughing all the way to the bank.

Meanwhile there’s a new casting rumor that the venerable Bryan Cranston is going to be Lex Luthor. It sounds fan-invented and based on his excellent Breaking Bad character, but it could be true. Remember that Cranston worked with Affleck in Argo. If Affleck has a lot of script control, it’s not far-fetched to think he would have a hand in casting decisions too. I would watch this movie for Cranston alone.

Photos are from February, April and June. Credit: WENN.com