Ben Affleck Tweets About Young Batman Fan With Cancer
Ben Affleck may play a superhero in the DC Extended Universe, but for the Batman actor one young [...]
Ben Affleck may play a superhero in the DC Extended Universe, but for the Batman actor one young boy with cancer is the real superhero.
Last week, Shazam! star Zachary Levi reached out to the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice star on behalf of Mukuta, an 11-year-old refugee from the Congo dying from a rare form of cancer. Mukuta is presently receiving hospice care in Atlanta and just so happens to be a huge fan of Batman. On Friday, Affleck reached out to the fan via FaceTime. Affleck then took to social media to declare Mukuta the real superhero as well as declare himself a fan of the ill child while thanking those taking care of him.
Mukuta is the real superhero here! https://t.co/zU1wBgc4kS
— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) April 7, 2018
Well, I’m a super Mukuta fan! Thank you to the incredible doctors, nurses and caretakers at @VNHS for providing around the clock care. https://t.co/ej44Zpf8Yp
— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) April 7, 2018
Affleck's support for the young fan is the latest example of the actors who play superheroes on the big screen being heroes in real life for their fans. Heroes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe have reached out to fans as well. Recently, Marvel stars from television and film came together to send 11-year-old Avengers fan Emilio Pachon messages of support before he passed away while Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. has also shown support for young fans battling illness, even visiting one in London last month.
Affleck himself has shown support for young fans previously as well, visiting kids in Children's Hospital Los Angeles last year, but in Mukuta's case the support didn't stop with a FaceTime call. The actor, who long been a supporter of refugees from the Congo and founded the advocacy and grant making initiative Eastern Congo Initiative in 2010, also offered financial support for Mukuta and his mother. Hospice Atlanta posted on their own Twitter account that the actor offered to fly the boy's mother from Zimbabwe to Atlanta to be with him as she had been unable to be by his side due to financial concerns.
As for Affleck's tenure as Batman in the DCEU, the actor has been tentatively attached to star in director Matt Reeves' upcoming The Batman though there have been rumors that the actor is still torn on his future as the Dark Knight.