This did not, we would suggest, really need saying, but it's amusing nonetheless. Ben Affleck has been cast as Batman in the developing sequel to Man Of Steel, causing many a commenter to suggest, "Hur hur, they should get Matt Damon to play Robin." The joke mill can now grind to a halt, however, because Damon has addressed the issue head on. "It's safe to say I won't be Robin," he told the Times of India. "I'm a little older than Ben. I never saw Robin as older than Batman."
Let the Matt-Damon-as-Alfred gags commence.
Though he won't be joining his Good Will Hunting BFF, Damon unsurprisingly has every confidence in Affleck's suitability for the Bat-cowl. "I just think it's kind of funny," he says of the internet-wide tantrum that greeted the announcement. "He's not playing King Lear. It's Batman! If anybody saw Argo or The Town and all the work he's been doing lately, it's way more nuanced and interesting and way more difficult than Batman! Certainly within his skill set. Batman just sits there with a cowl over his head and whispers in a kind of gruff voice at people. Bruce Wayne is the more challenging part of the role, and Ben will be great at that."
Do you hear that, internet? Matt Damon does not respect the Batman! Bat-fans' fingers are already bleeding at their keyboards.
Batman Vs. Superman (as it's provisionally called) is scheduled for the crowded marketplace of summer 2015, with a US release that July 17. You can currently see Damon on screen in Neill Blomkamp's Elysium.