In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, audiences were introduced to Ben Affleck’s wildly different Batman. This grizzled, brooding iteration of the character has some contentious interactions with Henry Cavill’s Superman and semi-flirtatious moments with Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, but for the most part he was a pretty messed up dude. In Justice League, however, we’ll get to see an entirely different side of Batman as the character has turned a new leaf with a more optimistic attitude, and much of the levity is due to the fact that he’s interacting with some very different characters.

Collider’s own Steve Weintraub visited the set of Justice League last week along with a group of reporters, and one of the many fascinating tidbits that were gleaned is that Batman’s relationship with the various members of the Justice League differs from person to person. Ezra Miller’s The Flash, for instance, is boisterous and full of glee at the prospect of joining a superhero team, and Affleck says that provides some fodder for humor when he’s interacting with the super-serious Batman:

“There’s a quality to really what Ezra [Miller] does that is young and fun and full of life, 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. Which you’d probably ask Ezra and he’d be like, ‘Fuck that! He’s not my mentor!’ But I think there is a little bit. And it’s fun to play, definitely. 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.” 

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Image via Warner Bros.

Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, meanwhile, brings a very different flavor to the mix:

"You know, Aquaman’s a very strong character, played by a very strong actor with a very strong personality, so I don’t think he’s the sort of guy who at any point in his life takes orders from people. Jason Momoa, he’s got a very strong, stubborn, independent, powerful energy. So it’s not like any of these characters show up and immediately go like, ‘Yes sir, what should I do, Mr. Wayne?’ It’s about like trying to get a lot of disparate people who are used to being very powerful and independent to try to work together. And it’s about how hard it is for them to all get along. And there are some characters who really hit it off with each other, some that don’t hit it off with each other, almost come to blows, and it’s about trying to contain that. So it’s not an easy ride trying to get this group to come together.”

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Image via Warner Bros.

But while the group dynamic takes a while to gel, there’s a reason that Batman needs to assemble such a team, and it has to do with the otherworldly villain Steppenwolf. As a result, the film also offers an opportunity to showcase all the team members’ various powers:

“It’s like, guys, we’re getting way out of his league. It’s definitely stepping up to the level you know, in the comic books when you have a lot of things from other planets, other super-villains that are way more powerful than your average human being who’s got a batarang and a grappling hook is equipped to deal with. So we’re able to explore the powers of these other heroes and what they can do. Which is pretty exceptional too. If you want to be able to use the powers of Flash and Wonder Woman and Cyborg, you have to have bad guys who are up to snuff and give them what they can really kind of get their cars out on the track and open up the accelerator a little bit.”

Batman v Superman was very much about building to this all-out brawl between Batman and Superman, so there wasn’t much time for conversation pieces. When the movie did slow down for these, as in the Bruce Wayne/Diana Prince scenes, it was really engaging, and it sounds like that’s going to be a big portion of Justice League, which is very good news.

For much more of our Justice League set visit coverage, peruse the links below:

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Image via Warner Bros.

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