How It Could Have Gone Down... (Batfleck)steemCreated with Sketch.

in story •  7 years ago  (edited)

Only two hours had passed since his return back to the hotel room from Leicester Square’s Odeon grand opening in London. The lights, the A-list guest celebrities, the velvet red carpet. All of it was becoming a bit of a blur now. But one thing was for sure. That phone would ring any minute now and answers would be demanded. The outcome of this deal negotiated with months of strategic planning in mind and lengthy co-ordinated talks, had thrown them a curveball that no one could have expected.

There was a short, sharp knock. Mr. Whitesell gasped at the abrupt shattered silence, but gathered his thoughts fast before scurrying to open the door. A solemn figure strode in, wearing a blue regular-fit waist jacket and white, pinstriped shirt underneath. A thin, speckled film of stubble layered his lower jaw coupled with his strong, striking frown, heightened the dense ambient discomfort. Ben turned on the ball of his heel to face Patrick who closed the door behind him with a soft click.

”OK, Pat. Don’t bullshit me.” Ben said with a scowl. ”What’s your honest verdict on tonight's wrap-up? And I want the truth this time.”

”Well.” Replied Pat, rubbing two forefingers upon his temple. ”It could have… Gone better I suppose.” This was as good an answer as he could muster, given the fact that the truth was now so blatantly out in the open.

”Can you say that again but this time be a little more dramatic about it please?” Ben’s sarcastic response caused Patrick to wince with displeasure. ”I thought I’d crushed those damn critics ramblings already. I’m telling you, Pat. I know I carried out a damn fine portrayal of the caped crusader. Best one yet, as quoted in some reports. Why then, did the applause at the end get such lacklustre treatment? Was it me? Or was the movie really that dire?”

”Look, Ben. I’ve always been as straight as I can be.” Pat continued. ”I thought this role would be just perfect for you. And to some degree, it was. You silenced your naysayers by being the epitome of that film. You were the real star of the show and everybody knows it. Included Cavill and Gadot.”

Ben shook his head, making his way to a single-seater sofa at the far end of the room. He sank into it and sighed. ”You know the high hopes I had pinned on this, right? I’ve already shown the world I can act, even direct, some of the greatest Hollywood entertainment spectacles out there. I needed this one to work. I mean, when in the whole of my career, was I ever on the receiving end of such a concerted hate campaign. And now, on top of everything else, I’ve gotta do these follow-up interviews talking about how proud I am of this project. It’s just all bullshit.”

”Ben, listen to me.” Pat remarked, shuffling forward. ”You’ve read the early reviews and know what the general consensus is. Even though the movie is dividing opinions, you are considered a stellar part of…”

”Divided options?” Interjected Ben. ”Have you taken a look at that piece of shit movie review site Rotten Tomatoes lately? We’re currently sat at a 41% rating and projected to be around the low thirties when all the critics have finished spitting their collective venom. I don’t care how great people think I am, this was supposed to be a franchise. A nice little money spinner to see me into my twilight acting years. Now what? I’m signed up for several more of these things. I’m a part of this new “DC” universe now. But the way I see it, I was better off as Daredevil. I mean, at least I was on-board with the right branding team. Look at Ryan Reynolds for instance. He started out in our very own “DC” as The Green Lantern which bombed. Then some years later, got the part of Deadpool. Look at the irony in all this. That’s almost a mirror opposite to what’s happening to me at this very moment. Can’t you see that?”

Pat looked at the ground, running a series of logical musings and future prospective solutions in his mind. After a short pause, he spoke. ”We could always try to find an exit strategy from the deal if things don’t improve. It wouldn’t be the first time something like this was arranged. But just see out two more of these movies at least. That’s my advice to you as an agent and your friend. You got The Justice League coming out soon as well as your own standalone movie after that. And don't forget about Marvel's first move advantage. They got such a head start on us that the general public can’t even think "superhero flicks" without conjuring visions of Ironman, Captain America or any one of those other assholes in comic book land. But that's not to say things can't change. Give them time to adapt to this new universe, Ben. It will only get better from here if we make it. Today will be the past soon so no point dwelling too much on it. See where I'm coming from? Let's focus on the positive. That being the character you played in Dawn of Justice tonight.”

Ben pursed his mouth together and stared back at Pat. He looked tired and morose, as though resigned to the words of wisdom from his business partner and associate for over twenty years. He tipped his head in Pat’s direction with a wry smirk on his face. His chiselled cheekbones rose as he exposed a perfect set of pearly white teeth. ”I know, Pat. Or should I say “The Patman”." They both sniggered in unison as the tense atmosphere gave way for a mild reprieve.

”Let’s see how the next few projects go down. After all, it ain’t over till the fat lady sings. And she’s just got a new stock pile of fresh doughnuts to plough through... I will make this work, Pat. Thanks for being there for me, pal.”

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Hope you enjoyed this story, please look out for more on the way... (author: @ezzy)


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Haha! I would've never expected you would ever craft a story with Ben Affleck at the center. I'm a huge geek, so I have a lot of sentiments regarding this. I thought BvS wasn't good haha! Batfleck was fine, but I really felt he wasn't committed to it. They should've gone for a younger, hungrier actor to don the cowl. DC really dropped the ball with how they set things up. I won't make any judgments until I see Justice League though. They're so busy trying to play catch up that they didn't bother to make a solid foundation of their own. At this rate, it seems like the public would have superhero fatigue before they can make a decent universe.

Great "what-if" story though, brother!

Hey, my brother! Man, comments and upvotes are proving a little tricky these days on Steemit, lol. I send a comment before but apparently never went through. Anyways, hope this does. Thanks for your kind words on something "new" that I went for. I plan to make this into a series eventually and will be eager to see how it turns out. And yeah, I agree with BvS. A very mixed bag but I got the idea for this from the YouTube spoofs of "sad Affleck", lol. Here's hoping for some well-overdue justice in Justice League!

Bless you, my awesome brother! :)

LOL comments and upvotes have always been tricky for me, maybe I've been receiving a hundred comments on my posts it's just that they're not pushing through successfully? Haha! One could dream.

This was surprisingly excellent. Not because you're not a good author, but because I didn't think I'd be this interested and engaged reading about Ben Affleck's reaction to the terrible reviews that Dawn of Justice received early on. It brings up an interesting point. We all think we have some sort of conception of what actors are really like, usually based on their TV and film appearances, but what do we really know?

Hey, man! thanks for the vote of confidence for this new spin I went for. I'm so intrigued by those "fly-on-the-wall" moments that have occurred in the past and we missing out on all that potential drama unfold. Hence , why not throw a few idea's out there, right? Again, bless for stopping by, man. One of these days I'm gonna drop in to discord and hopefully join the great panel once more. It was so much fun and I'd love to do it again.

Nice one, bro! :)

Again a good story, you always make it exciting. I mean, you always write stories I want to read until the end and that's not always the case with stories.

Thank you, @clio! I try to change it up so your words are very much appreciated! :)

Lol! Really great little number there. I'd love to see the reaction to the real Ben Affleck at this. I'm sure it won't be too far off the truth, lol. Amazing piece of short fiction here.

Hey buddy! Thanks for dropping by, man! Yeah, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall and hear what the conversation must have been between Ben and his agent. Although I didn't think the movie was "as" bad as people were slating it for.

Bless you, my bro! Thanks for the support. :)

Nice Post

LOL Awesome! But, did I read this wrong? "Can you say that again but this time be a little more about it dramatic please?”

Oops... typo! Thanks for stopping by and the support! :)

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Awesome post.go ahead bro.best of luck.

Wow great history ben Affleck poor batman

Lol, true. :)

The way you blended filmsy words and told a story so perfect is extraodinary

Thanks very much, @josediccus. :)

This was the first time I read a story on steemit and I was surprise , I usually lose interest very quickly but this time I didn't, This was very interesting and I think I will follow you to see whats to come. Hope you have a great weekend!

Thanks for the vote of confidence, @hotsteam. Would love to know how far off my version of events was from what actually happened, lol.

Nice post.. great work I do watch Ben ... I like way you blend the story.. good job..
Keep steeming.

Follow U.

Thanks a lot, @dabbey. :)

you know i'm your huge fan, right?
;)