Joss Whedon Backs Ben Affleck Batman Casting

Joss Whedon has stated his support for Ben Affleck's casting as Batman.

Despite a largely negative reaction from fans on social media since Warner Brothers announced the news yesterday, The Avengers filmmaker took a contrary stance on Twitter.

"Affleck'll crush it. He's got the chops, he's got the chin. -- just needs the material," he tweeted.

"Affleck and (Henry) Cavill toe to toe -- I'm in."

And Whedon has also been going against the grain in a feature interview with Entertainment Weekly - making critical comments about Twilight and Star Wars fan favourite The Empire Strikes Back.

Addressing Empire, he claimed that the movie had an "appalling" ending.

"Empire committed the cardinal sin of not actually ending, which at the time I was appalled by and I still think it was a terrible idea," he explained.

"It's not an ending. It's a Come Back Next Week, or in three years. And that upsets me. I go to movies expecting to have a whole experience. If I want a movie that doesn't end I'll go to a French movie.

"That's a betrayal of trust to me. A movie has to be complete within itself, it can't just build off the first one or play variations."

And he had even harsher words for Twilight - and in particular the character of Bella Swanm played by Kristen Stewart.

"The Twilight thing and a lot of these franchise attempts coming out, everything rests on what this girl will do, but she's completely passive, or not really knowing what the hell is going on."

He claimed that many teen-slanted supernatural dramas borrowed elements from his own Buffy The Vampire Slayer, but lacked the strong female character.

"And that's incredibly frustrating to me because a lot of what's taking on the oeuvre of Buffy, is actually a reaction against it," he continued.

"Everything is there - except for the Buffy. A lot of things aimed at the younger kids is just Choosing Boyfriends: The Movie."

Whedon recently opened up about his plans for the villain in The Avengers: Age Of Ultron.