Remember when Batman fans across the globe wept into their pillows after Ben Affleck was confirmed as the Caped Crusader for Zack Synder's Man of Steel sequel? Well, those same fanboys were dancing around with glee this week when the first photo of the 41-year-old in his batsuit was posted online by the filmmaker.

Ben AffleckBen Affleck is Batman. Deal With It. 

Standing next to the Batmobile, Affleck is a brooding presence as the famous superhero and fans gave the thumbs-up to the gritty new suit. Many have suggested that Affleck will play the older Batman from Frank Miller's four-part comic book The Dark Knight Rises and the photo appears to confirm that.

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The 1986 series "depicted an aged Bruce Wayne at the end of his career," said Bryan Bishop on The Verge.

"Since Affleck is rumoured to be playing an older Batman in the upcoming film, it may not be surprising that Snyder would draw on Miller's grittier designs."

The new Batsuit is "more sculpted and comic-book-like than the armour-plated version worn by Christian Bale" in those movies, noted Matt McDaniel on Yahoo Movies.

Escapist magazine's Ross Lincoln said the "rounder, old fashioned-looking cowl, and smaller ears" made Batman "appear less a demonic personification of justice and more like an actual cartoon bat."

Affleck was not a popular choice as the new Batman, but the Oscar-winner shrugged off the criticism during an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"When you get into the arena of those kinds of movies, these superhero movies, particularly ones that are working with characters that everyone's known for so long, everybody's got these strongly held opinions and preconceived ideas about what it should be," he said.

"At the same time, I don't think projections about something that hasn't happened yet are all that meaningful.

"I think at the end of the day, it's like any other movie or project: You go out and make it great, people will say it's great. If you go out and miss, you'll hear about it.

"The stuff beforehand is kind of just the noise that happens."

More: all the reactions to Ben Affleck's Batsuit

Affleck will make his debut as Batman in the currently untitled Man of Steel 2 on May 6, 2016. Gal Gadot is to play Wonder Woman and Ray Fisher will play Cyborg.

Watch Ben Affleck looking pretty well groomed: