Producer Charles Roven Shares Details from 'Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice'

Zack Snyder's Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice may still be two years away, but that doesn't stop people who are highly anticipating the film, myself included, to want to know more and more about the film and speculate on every detail that is revealed. Among all the talk and speculation very little of the reveals have been official announcements or comments from people closely involved in the project, but now we are getting some insight from the upcoming film from none other that the producer himself, Charles Roven.

The Hollywood Reporter's Stephen Galloway interviewed Charles Roven for his LMU Film School series The Hollywood Masters, and the producer revealed some details from Batman v. Superman that included the casting of Ben Affleck, Christopher Nolan's involvement and the origins that Wonder Woman will have in the film. About the casting of Affleck as Batman, the producer pointed out that he was their first choice and why:

"He was the first guy we went to. That's who we wanted. We knew that we wanted a very mature Batman, because we wanted to juxtapose him with this very young Superman. So we wanted a guy who was tougher, rugged, who had signs of life, who had lived a hard life, and we wanted the guy to have chops, for sure. So when we went down that list, there just weren't a tremendous number of guys who could carry that." 

"We also wanted a guy with big stature. Ben is 6' 4". Henry [Cavill] is 6'1". We wanted Batman to tower over Superman. Not hugely, not like a basketball player. Superman needed to 'look up' to Batman. We wanted that dynamic, and Ben could do that, easily."

 "He's much more of a social animal in the Bruce Wayne incarnation, but he's also an extremely rough guy in the Batman incarnation — very, very, very rough."

Roven was also asked about the involvement that Christopher Nolan had in the project, to which he pointed out that even though he wasn't completely involved, Nolan did play a part in some stages of development that included the casting of Affleck, he is kind of adviser:

"[Nolan] is an executive producer on the movie, as is Emma Thomas, his wife. And I would say that he's much more focused on the movie Interstellar, writing, directing. He co-wrote it with his brother. … They were off doing that movie."

The end interview covered the inclusion of other DC characters, to which Roven pointed out that, as we all know, Wonder Woman would be in the film and that she will be a demigod and daughter of Zeus, which will be a departure from her original origins in the comic books.

I am happy we get to know a little more about Batman v. Superman, and the main points that were given in the interview were great. I wasn't among the ones bashing the casting of Ben Affleck as Batman, the casting did take me by surprise but at this point I'm completely for it, and the explanation given by the producer makes the casting fit. It's also good to hear that Christopher Nolan had some involvement with the development, that just speaks for itself because of the caliber talent that Nolan is and his previous success with the DC property. As for Wonder Woman, I'm sure hardcore fans will not like the idea of changing the origins of the character, but in the end, as long as it serves the story of the film and it works well, there shouldn't be any reason to complain. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice opens in theaters on March 25th, 2016.