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Ben Affleck on Batman Backlash: “I”m a Big Boy,” Can “Handle” It

Ben Affleck appeared on the Jimmy Fallon show Sept 16, 2013

Ben Affleck already has one proven superpower: Repelling the haters! Appearing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Monday, Sept. 16, the actor, 41, opened up about the tremendous backlash unleashed online after it was announced that Affleck would portray Batman opposite Henry Cavill's Superman in a 2015 sequel to Man of Steel.

Related: PHOTOS: Stars as superheroes

"I'm a big boy. If I can handle an Oscar snub, I can handle anything," joked the star, who was infamously excluded from the Best Director category for Argo (which won Best Picture at this year' Oscars). Affleck revealed to Fallon that the studio producing the film, Warner Bros., warned him in advance that negative reactions from fans would be likely.

Related: PHOTOS: Ben and Jen's romance

"The people from the studio said, 'We want to talk to you because people go through this process and it can be a little trying'." recalled Jennifer Garner's hubby. "They said, 'We want to show you some of the reactions that past cast members have got on the internet'."

Indeed, the father of three didn't exactly avoid the web on the day of the big announcement last month. "I saw the announcement, I look at the first comment and it's like, 'Ben Affleck is going to be Batman' and the first one goes, 'Noooooooo!'"

Related: PHOTOS: Ben and Matt bromance!

In the planned flick to be directed by The Watchmen's Zack Snyder, Affleck's Batman/Bruce Wayne will be an older, wearier version of the DC Comics icon, brought to life in past films by Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney and Christian Bale.

The Boston native admitted that he balked at first. "I thought, 'I'm not 25 man and are you sure about this?' And they said, 'Come down, we want to show you what we're doing,' and it was incredible."

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