Names and faces

Ben Affleck will don Batman’s cape and cowl. Warner Bros. announced Thursday that the 41-year-oldactor-director will star as a new incarnation of the Dark Knight in a film bringing Batman and Superman together. The studio said Affleck will star opposite 30-year-old Henry Cavill, who will reprise his role as Superman from Man of Steel. The movie will also feature Man of Steel stars Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White and Diane Lane as Martha Kent. The big-screen DC Comics superhero mash-up was first revealed by director Zack Snyder at last month’s Comic-Con International in San Diego. Snyder, who will direct the sequel written by Man of Steel screenwriter David S. Goyer, said in a statement that Affleck will provide an “interesting counter-balance” to Cavill’s Clark Kent. “[Affleck] has the acting chops to create a layered portrayal of a man who is older and wiser than Clark Kent and bears the scars of a seasoned crime fighter, but retain the charm that the world sees in billionaire Bruce Wayne,” said Snyder. “I can’t wait to work with him.” Production on the as-yet-untitled film is expected to begin in 2014 for release July 17, 2015. Christian Bale most recently played Batman in director Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.

Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey says television has overtaken cinema as the home of quality, character-driven drama, but the industry risks failure if it doesn’t recognize that viewers want control over what they watch and when. Spacey told the Edinburgh International Television Festival in Scotland on Thursday that the success of his political thriller House of Cards - released all at once on video-streaming service Netflix earlier this year - showed that viewers “want freedom.” “If they want to binge - as they’ve been doing on House Of Cards - then we should let them binge,” he said.