Justice League: Ben Affleck promises Batman will be funnier in new film

'He’s not like a 'ha ha' jokey, but that sort of stuff comes out a little bit. A bit of his, sort of, darker humor stuff is present'

No one was expecting the Batfleck to crack jokes like an over-hyped Deadpool, but it's fair to say Batman v Superman's caped crusader was a particularly grim fellow.

A grim hero in a grim film, which many fans and critics simply labeled as too overtly grim for their own tastes; so, it's no surprise director Zack Snyder and crew would be looking to lighten up the tone in its follow-up production, Justice League.

During a set visit to Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, where production on Justice League is currently underway; Affleck told journalists (via BirthMoviesDeath), "he’s a little bit more sardonic, humor, a little more irony".

"He’s a little more of a man on a mission this time," he continued. "As opposed to being so full of anger because of what happened at the Black Zero Event. That kind of rage that possessed him. And now he’s on a mission to get this group together. To constitute this League. But, more of his, that sort of Bruce Wayne, wry, ironic gallows humor comes out. He’s not like a 'ha ha' jokey, but that sort of stuff comes out a little bit. A bit of his, sort of, darker humor stuff is present."

"There’s definitely room for more humor," he commented more generally about the film's tone. "It’s not going to be – DC movies I think, by their nature are a little more mythic than some comic book movies are. But that movie was very dark and heavy because it was really rooted in Dark Knight Returns which is a heavy, dark book. And this is not that."

"It’s about multilateralism, and it’s about hope and about working together and the kind of conflicts of trying to work together with others. It’s a world where superheroes exist, so there’s comedy in that necessarily, trying to work with other people and people trying to accomplish goals together is the root of all great comedy in my view. So there’s definitely, hopefully some fun in it. But it’s not unrecognizably these characters or these stories. It’s not turning it upside down."

To be fair, Affleck's Batman wasn't totally incapable of punchlines in his first film - notably joking to a rescued Martha Kent, "I'm a friend of your son's" - though it always seemed to sit at odds with the film's general gloom. Hopefully, here, the humour will blend more naturally within the League's dynamics.

Talking of dynamics, Affleck elaborated; "On the one hand, he’s sort of the ultimate loner; but on the other hand, he’s sort of tasked with putting together a group. So is the guy who basically broods in a cave all day really the best person to put together a team of superheroes? And he doesn’t have huge success initially. He rubs some people the wrong way or they rub him the wrong way, he’s got to figure out how to play well with others. He barely knows how to play well with Alfred."

"There’s a quality to really what Ezra does that is young and fun and full of life," the actor said of Ezra Miller's Flash. "And excited about what they’re doing that’s so in contrast to who Batman is, there’s a little bit of that natural yin and yang to playing scenes with him. There’s not the ward aspect to it, but there’s a little bit of the mentor."

"And what does Batman do around a guy who’s really excited and positive all the time? [laughs] You know what I mean? That’s not his natural state of being, so that’s really fun. And it’s been really, really cool. Everybody has brought a certain kind of energy to their character that’s really distinct in this thing. All of a sudden, it’s a totally different kind of movie, in ways from the last one because all of a sudden it’s really an ensemble movie. This is a movie about a bunch of different people and qualities and characters all sort of how they work together, what that melting pot is like."

Justice League hits UK cinemas 17 November 2017.