After the success of Zach Snyder’s Man of Steel film, making over six hundred fifty million dollars combined domestically and worldwide, it was no secret that a sequel would be ordered by Warner Brothers. Some speculated other worldly villains such as Darkside or Doomsday would do battle with the Man of Steel. Others suggested Kal El (Superman) would do battle with his arch rival, the genius billionaire: Lex Luthor. As it turns out that Zach Snyder and writer David S Goyer had something else in mind. It was confirmed at the Man of Steel panel at Comic Con 2013 that Superman would be doing battle with the caped crusader himself: Batman.  Since then the fans have wasted no time trying to figure out who should take the mantel for Christian Bale who stated he would never take the role again. “It’s a torch that should be handed from one actor to another,” says Bale. Warner Brothers announced that “The Town” and “Argo” actor/ director Ben Affleck would don the cape and the cowl in this new cinematic universe. Since the announcement, fans have had bold reactions ranging from excitement to rage. We asked West Bloomfield High School (WBHS) students what they thought of Affleck taking over the role as well as whom they thought should have been casted instead. “They should have kept Bale,” say some like Nick Carrol, senior, Adaija Packnet, senior, and Dave Haran, senior. Others like Kellen Boyd, senior, claim that “People are complaining too much.”  Other actors mentioned by students were Andrew Garfield of the Amazing Spiderman, Donald Glover of Community, and even the original Batman, Adam West. We also asked who at our high school would be best to fight Superman and take over the role of Batman. Some of the names mentioned were Nick Kissie, senior, Kyle McDermott, senior, Ryan Bryce, senior, and yours truly. I know; I don’t think I’d be a good Batman either.

In other movie news, Disney announced this summer, after purchasing “LucasArts” that they would be making a Star Wars 7, 8 and 9. The project would be directed by Fringe, Lost and Star Trek director JJ Abrams. While little is known about the film, fans have had a generally positive reaction to the film due to the success of the new Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness. Dave Haran says that he would “watch them no matter what, they’ll do good.” Others are a bit more skeptical than Dave. “I’m skeptical but I’ll keep an open mind,” says Nick Carrol, senior. We also asked who should take over the third Star Trek now that JJ Abrams is leaving the mix. Many are clueless as who should take over. Students have suggested Michael Bay, director of the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformers 1-4. Others, such as senior Robbie Pluta want the “Wachowskis”, director of the Matrix films. While little on the film has been confirmed, rumor has it that Star Trek Into Darkness and Sherlock star, Benedict Cumberbatch, will appear as a villain in the film. This comes from his previous work with Abrams and that he has recently left Pacific Rim director Giermo Del Toro’s new movie which is set to film the same time as Star Wars Episode 7. It is no secret this movie will be a big money maker for Disney, but some go as far as to say that it will win the box office in 2015, beating out Man of Steel 2 and the Avengers 2.