Henry Cavill's Superman vs Ben Affleck's Batman - which one was worse?

[Ichthyosaurus]

Two iconic titan super-heroes squaring off for the first time in cinema history, only to be met with confusion, anger and disappointment from its audience.

Batman was a trigger happy, Punisher lite older super-hero obsessed with destroying Superman at all costs. Personally, I liked Affleck's performance and they gave him more scenes to sympathise with him. Affleck had meat in his performance to chew on to give Batman/Bruce depth.





Superman, however, was a walking train wreck. Cavill did his best with what he had but his acting skills had limits. All the fault's Snyder's Superman had in Man of Steel were amplified to 11 and his motives for wanting Batman gone were contradictory since he's ok killing people in the blink of an eye.



Eisenberg would made a great Joker.

edit: It's not about the actors performances (I agree they both did excellent work as actors) it's about the renditions of the characters themselves.

 

[BarrBarr]

Both actors did a fine job with the characters. Even if the film wasn't great, their performances of the characters were good.

 

[Shopolic]

Both were good in my opinion.

 

[MisterHero]

Man you guys taking the Sequel Trilogy crash pretty hard.

 

[Mr. President]

Affleck's Batman was the worst written Batman ever filmed.
But it wasn't Ben's fault.

 

[Amiablepercy]

They were both very good IMO. All these Negative DC which one is worse threads just started popping out of nowhere huh? The tribal Marvelites bored or something?

 

[Waaghals]

I liked them both, but not the movies they starred in.

 

[MrBadger]

They were both fine, and more or less what I expect those characters to act like with little innovation.

 

[Navidson REC]

Loved both. Better writing would have elevated their performances, no doubt. I'm bummed that Affleck won't get another chance, but I'm also excited about Pattinsons' run as Batman (saw The Lighthouse yesterday).

Cavill is Superman. Perfect casting and he has the charisma to pull of the Big Blue Boyscout too - if the writing let's him be that.

Won't vote in this biased poll.

 

[FaceHugger]

I think Cavill was given terrible direction. The man is a great actor but Snyder was dead set on having a mopey, lifeless Superman. The one scene in which Cavill got to add some personality to the character was great (bathroom scene with Lois). The rest was unbearable and didn't feel like Superman at all.

 

[DJwest]

They were both great.

 

[Amiablepercy]

Loved both. Better writing would have elevated their performances, no doubt. I'm bummed that Affleck won't get another chance, but I'm also excited about Pattinsons' run as Batman (saw The Lighthouse yesterday).

Cavill is Superman. Perfect casting and he has the charisma to pull of the Big Blue Boyscout too - if the writing let's him be that.

Won't vote in this biased poll.

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Cavill is going to have a great long term career and the fact he seems to be a really nice guy and a informed cat makes me looking forward to it.

 

[breakdancing duck]

They were both great. I had serious issues with Batman V Superman when I initially saw it for a couple of reasons. 1. The theatrical cut was butchered in the edit so plot lines missed important steps. 2. I wasn't expecting a broken Batman.

As an elseworlds film, much like Joker, there's a lot to like.

 

[Dabanton]

Both were good. I wished we got a solo Affleck Bats movie.

 

[Firemind]

 

[A. D. Skinner]

Looking forward to the follow up of

Which one was worse, Chris Evans Captain America, or Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man

 

[Jegriva]

Henry Cavill has a good Superman inside him, that shines the very few seconds in the ending of Justice League and when he first flies in Man of Steel. He had potential but was completely mismanaged by the writers and Zack Snyder.

Ben Affleck is going full cilinders on his acting ability and yet he doesn't quit center the shot.


Character-wise? BvS Superman doesn't like saving people, FFS.

 

[rude]

They were both fine. They couldn't overcome that writing though.

 

[Mack]

I don't get the question. Batfleck is the best Batman in cinema ever.

 

[BrickArts295]

You people are crazy, in fact both of them were fine they were just given poor direction and a crap script.
You need evidence? Just look at Gadot and compare her stuff between Snyder and Jenkins.
Edit: renditions huh...then I guess Henry is probably the worse one, which is crazy because he's the perfect Superman yet they never use him to play the correct Superman. Affleck was a hell of a surprise on all corners, dude could have been amazing...

 

[dennett316]

Cavill's Supes was worse, but that was really down to Snyder's vision of the character rather than anything Cavill did. He has the look, he has the chops and charisma to pull off Superman, he was just given a crappy version of the character to work with. Justice League, for all its flaws, gave us a glimpse at a warm and kind Superman, and he was really damn good.
Affleck got to sink his teeth into a bit more of a character, even if he was a bit more.....murdery than one might want their Batman to be. He also had a kick-ass action scene that Superman didn't get in BvS so that helped too. He wasn't good in Justice League though.

Gotta laugh at some of the snippy replies in this thread..."tribal Marvelites", "biased poll", lol.

 

[n00bs7ay3r]

They were both terrible. In neither case was it the actors' fault as both could have done well with much much much much much better writing. Superman was worse for me but both were just, really really really bad. Like how did they miss the mark so hard with the DCEU. I really wish they would kill it off and start over but it seems they are determined to keep pushing on and making mediocre at best films. And as long as enough people keep giving them money and they produce a profit then I can't really blame the company too much.

 

[Pein]

Both were great.

Bruce Wayne running head first into black zero at the beginning of BvS is one of the most Batman things put to film ever.

 

[big_z]

Cavill has had multiple shots playing superman and he just sucks. No charisma or charm to his superman.
Affleck got one shot in a really shitty movie that didn't give him a fair chance to show if he would be good in the role.

 

[n00bs7ay3r]

Cavill has had multiple shots playing superman and he just sucks. No charisma or charm to his superman.
Affleck got one shot in a really shitty movie that didn't give him a fair chance to show if he would be good in the role.

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Affleck was apparently so bad you forgot he was in 2 movies...

 

[Lost Knight]

I hate Batflick because simply put, Batman should not kill, it's one of his core principles, take that out and you're not gonna have Batman. I have my issues with Cavil's take on Superman, but he is closer to how the character would act than Batman. Honestly, both actors are talented and did what they could with the shitty materials they had. I'm glad Snyder is no longer making these movies.

 

[Navidson REC]

Gotta laugh at some of the snippy replies in this thread..."tribal Marvelites", "biased poll", lol.

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Uhm, how is a poll that presupposes that the participant deems both interprations bad and one worse than the other not biased? I don't think they were bad so my opinion is not mirrored by the poll options. Not exactly hard to grasp.

 

[Deleted member 42055]

I mean the real tragedy is it there was really great potential for both but the writing and direction failed them

 

[big_z]

Affleck was apparently so bad you forgot he was in 2 movies...

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lol I had to look it up and you're right. totally forgot about justice league and honestly cant even remember Affleck doing anything in it. dc films are such shit.

 

[lupinko]

The actors were just fine, Snyder was the problem.

 

[Angie]

Where is the option "I liked both"?

 

[Zetta]

I love both actors as the version of the character they played. I just hate the writing of in everything but Man of Steel which I still consider one of my favorite super hero movies. I won't vote but if I had to choose which was worse it would be Batfleck due to JL.

 

[Bishop89]

Both actors did a fine job with the characters. Even if the film wasn't great, their performances of the characters were good.

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Yeeeeep!

I will add though that batman was better than supes in Bvs but supes was better than bat's in JL

 

[subpar spatula]

They did as best as they could with the material.

I don't get it the point.

 

[PJV3]

I'm going to pick Affleck, he just didn't leave much of an impression besides some big suits, the problem with superman was how miserable the writing was.

 

[blueredandgold]

Such mean-spirited discussions about these movies for so much longer after they were released.

BUT ITS THE PEOPLE WHO LIKED THEM WHO ARE TOXIC STILL RIGHT?

 

[CaviarMeths]

I think both actors did about as well as anyone could have with the material. The problem was in the characterizations and the scripts. Snyder's garbage-ass Randian philosophy infects everything he touches.

I would argue that Superman's characterization was worse. Who the flying fuck thought Objectivist Superman was a good take on a main series movie? Save that shit for an Elseworld. Clark was groomed from a young age to care nothing for the lives of humans and for the most part, that's pretty consistent throughout Man of Steel and Batman v Superman. He views saving people as an annoying burden and wants to be free of it. His mom and dad both repeatedly encourage him to say "fuck them kids" and be done with it.

Batman is basically just Punisher, but I mean Batman was always an asshole who maimed and tortured his villains. I know Batman has his "one rule" or whatever, and I fully understand why he has that rule, but I don't think committing murder is actually that far removed from what he normally gets up to in the comics anyway. It's a shit take, but it's not so far off the mark that it makes you question if the writers just actively hate the character. Besides, it's based on Frank Miller's Batman, who is an even bigger asshole than canon Batman.

 

[Kaswa101]

What's up with all these terrible DC threads lately?

 

[n00bs7ay3r]

Such mean-spirited discussions about these movies for so much longer after they were released.

BUT ITS THE PEOPLE WHO LIKED THEM WHO ARE TOXIC STILL RIGHT?

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Who the hell said you were toxic for liking a movie? Like whatever you want. We are just having fun ripping on movies that are pretty widely considered to be bad.

 

[Deleted member 203]

They were both very good IMO. All these Negative DC which one is worse threads just started popping out of nowhere huh? The tribal Marvelites bored or something?

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You don't have to like Marvel to dislike these DC movies, you just have to like good movies

 

[SPRidley]

Were is the option both could have been great without snyder?

I jist imagine Cavill with the Supes of All Star Superman and would have been amazing, and i cry that we are never going to get that.

 

[Teenage Fansub]

Not that I could blame him, but I felt like Affleck was more checked out during Justice League.

 

[JaggedSac]

I hate Batflick because simply put, Batman should not kill, it's one of his core principles, take that out and you're not gonna have Batman. I have my issues with Cavil's take on Superman, but he is closer to how the character would act than Batman. Honestly, both actors are talented and did what they could with the shitty materials they had. I'm glad Snyder is no longer making these movies.

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Interestingly enough, I just re-watched the first Tim Burton Batman movie, and Batman straight up murders at least a dozen people in that.

 

[Finaika]

Why are you guys so mean to DC?

 

[MinusTydus]

Imagine thinking that any part of THIS is a good performance...

Fully expect this to turn into a Cavill thirst thread, like every Cavill thread.

Like, just admit you want him to do you, and be done with it. He was not a good actor in this role.

 

[Protome]

As most people have mentioned, the actors did great jobs with the trash they were given to work with. In terms of which trash was less trash? I'd maybe lean towards Batman? But even then his character gets noticeably altered for Justice League for the worse.

 

[Lost Knight]

Interestingly enough, I just re-watched the first Tim Burton Batman movie, and Batman straight up murders at least a dozen people in that.

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Fun fact, I don't like that version of Batman either.

 

[Vasto]

Cavil is my favorite Superman

 

[PixelatedDonut]

I am a proud MOS defender, it is the Tron legacy of superhero films.

Spoiler

Fuck the plot

OT: And they are both great actors. ZACK IS A MADMAN, HE MUST BE STOPPED.

 

[LewieP]

Tough call. Both of them really hamstrung by things other than their acting ability.

Cavill is a charisma vacuum in these films and these films alone. His character isn't superman at all, and some of the scenes and dialogue feel designed to make him unrelatable. Although man of steel is the best film with either of them in. He comes across as cold and uncaring, and I kinda hate the suit too. Then there's that moustache CGI face nonsense.

Affleck gives a decent performance, but again we never really get to see him be Batman. He's murderous, and doesn't really feel like a meticulous detective, or like he's using fear to intimidate, outside of a few scenes. He's in the least well written and directed films, and he even visibly gains and loses weight between scenes as he oscillates between dour humourless overly serious batman and goofy cracking wise Tony Stark wannabe.

I really dislike both versions of these characters, but I blame Snyder and the producers more than the actors, they're both capable actors.

Might go for Cavill being the better of the two because at least the Man Of Steel trailers hint at a far better version of that character that could have been possible.

Do we get a thread on whether Lois Lane or Amanda Waller is worse in the DCEU next?

Edit: I don't even mind that both of them kill, but it never felt earned or justified. If you are going to make them cross that line, it should be set up to be a big deal beforehand.