Updated 10:15 PM EDT, Tue, Apr 23, 2024

'Batman vs Superman' Trailer & Cast News: Did Ben Affleck’s Ancestors Own Slaves?

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Today, the President of the United States is African-American, but a few decades ago, it would have been a different story.

It's a good thing that times have changed and racial prejudice and slavery are now being rejected. After all, we can't control our history, even if a part of the past was filled with so much hate.

But if reports are to be believed, one actor does not want to expose a portion of his family history that involves slavery. USA Today reported that "Batman v Superman" actor Ben Affleck allegedly wanted some controversial details off his story for the PBS Documentary, "Finding Your Roots."

The report stated that emails have been revealed on WikiLeaks about Sony chief executive Michael Lynton and Host Henry Louis Gates dealing with the issue of slave ownership.

The leaked email from Gates read, "Here's my dilemma: confidentially, for the first time, one of our guests has asked us to edit out something about one of his ancestors - the fact that he owned slaves. Now, four or five of our guests this season descend from slave owners, including Ken Burns. We've never had anyone ever try to censor or edit what we found. He's a megastar. What do we do?"

Although Affleck's name was not mentioned in the emails, someone was referred to in the correspondence as "Batman," the latest big role that the actor is playing.  A set in Detriot was also mentioned where scenes from "Batman v Superman" was shot.

An email for the Associated Press was released by Gates, saying, "For any guest, we always find far more stories about ancestors on their family trees than we ever possibly could use. We decided to go with the story we used about his fascinating ancestor who became an occultist following the Civil War. This guy's story was totally unusual: we had never discovered someone like him before."

It seems Gates main concern was the issue about censorship and the integrity of the show, pointing out that "once we open the door to censorship, we lose control of the brand." He also said that he wouldn't "demonize" Affleck's ancestors, adding that "Now Anderson Cooper's ancestor was a real s.o.b.; one of his slaves actually murdered him. Of course, the slave was promptly hanged. And Anderson didn't miss a beat about that."

Affleck already appeared on "Finding Your Roots" last year, and there was no mention of slave-owning ancestors. Several news outlets tried to reach out to Affleck's reps but so far, there has been no reply yet.

The actor will be appearing as Bruce Wayne, AKA Batman in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" which will be released on March 25, 2016, along side Henry Cavill as Superman and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.

Check out this adorable fan made trailer for the film:

Here’s the official release:

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