Ben Affleck: The Moment He Knew He Was Done as Batman

Ben Affleck, renowned for his role as Batman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, recently shared insights into his challenging tenure as the Caped Crusader for DC. In an interview with GQ, Affleck reflected on his nearly decade-long journey with the character, describing it as an “excruciating” experience due to a complex relationship with DC that ultimately led to his disinterest in the superhero genre.

“There are a number of reasons why that was a really excruciating experience,” Affleck explained. He emphasized that his dissatisfaction wasn't solely due to the nature of superhero films but rather a broader loss of interest in the genre. “I am not interested in going down that particular genre again, not because of that bad experience, but just: I’ve lost interest in what was of interest about it to me. But I certainly wouldn’t want to replicate an experience like that.”

Affleck has previously discussed these challenges, but he now attributes his negative experience to a “misalignment of agendas, understandings, and expectations.” He also acknowledged his own contributions to the difficulties, admitting, “I wasn’t bringing anything particularly wonderful to that equation at the time, either.”

Reflecting on his personal shortcomings, Affleck noted, “I mean, my failings as an actor, you can watch the various movies and judge. But more of my failings of, in terms of why I had a bad experience, part of it is that what I was bringing to work every day was a lot of unhappiness.” He admitted to merely fulfilling his duties without adding positive energy, stating, “So I wasn’t bringing a lot of positive energy to the equation. I didn’t cause problems, but I came in and I did my job and I went home. But you’ve got to do a little bit better than that.”

Affleck's journey with DC began with his role in Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman alongside Henry Cavill. This led to multiple cameos and a canceled standalone project. Fans will recall his appearances in various team-up films like Justice League (both the 2017 version and the 2021 Snyder Cut), The Flash, and a cameo in Suicide Squad.

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Regarding the canceled Batman film, details are sparse, but rumors suggest it would have spanned 80 years of the Dark Knight, possibly exploring Arkham Asylum and featuring Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke.

Affleck credits longtime collaborator Matt Damon for helping him decide to step away from the role, but he also mentioned his son's reaction played a significant role. “But what happened was it started to skew too old for a big part of the audience. Like even my own son at the time was too scared to watch (Batman v. Superman). And so when I saw that I was like, 'Oh shit, we have a problem.'”

He continued, highlighting the conflicting visions between the director and the studio: “Then I think that’s when you had a filmmaker that wanted to continue down that road and a studio that wanted to recapture all the younger audience at cross purposes. Then you have two entities, two people really wanting to do something different and that is a really bad recipe.”

DC is now charting a new course, separating its grittier and more lighthearted narratives. The darker side will continue with The Batman 2 set to release in 2027, while the lighter tone will be explored in James Gunn’s DCU, starting with Superman this July. As for Affleck, he has no plans to return to DC to direct a film in Gunn’s new universe.