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

Ben Affleck, the star of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, has recently shared his "excruciating" experience of portraying the iconic Caped Crusader for DC. In a candid interview with GQ, Affleck reflected on his decade-long journey as Batman within the so-called Snyder-verse, describing it as a deeply challenging time. He attributed his struggles to a complex relationship with DC, which ultimately led to his disinterest in the superhero genre.

"There are a number of reasons why that was a really excruciating experience," Affleck explained. "And they don’t all have to do with the simple dynamic of, say, being in a superhero movie or whatever. 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 delved deeper into the reasons behind his negative experience, pinpointing a "misalignment of agendas, understandings, and expectations" as a significant factor. He also took personal responsibility, admitting that he wasn't contributing positively to the project. "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 confessed. He emphasized the need to bring more than just professionalism to the set: "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 when he signed on to co-star in Zack Snyder's Batman v. Superman alongside Henry Cavill. This led to numerous cameos and the eventual cancellation of a standalone Batman project. His involvement extended to team-up films like Justice League (both the 2017 original and the 2021 Snyder Cut), as well as The Flash, and a brief appearance in Suicide Squad.

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While the details of his canceled Batman film remain shrouded in mystery, rumors suggest it would have explored 80 years of the Dark Knight's history, possibly delving into the world of Arkham Asylum and featuring Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke.

Affleck credits his longtime collaborator Matt Damon and his own son for helping him decide to step away from the role. He recounted how his son's fear of watching Batman v. Superman made him realize the film was skewing too mature for a significant portion of the audience. "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.' 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."

As DC continues to evolve, it is now separating its grittier and more lighthearted narratives into distinct paths. The darker tone will persist with The Batman 2, set for release in 2027, while the lighter side will be explored in James Gunn's DCU, starting with Superman this July. As for Affleck, he has made it clear that he has no plans to return to DC to direct a film in Gunn's new universe.