Ben Affleck, known for his role as Batman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, recently shared his candid thoughts on his decade-long journey as the Caped Crusader in an interview with GQ. He labeled his experience within the Snyder-verse as "excruciating," highlighting the strained dynamics with DC that have ultimately diminished his enthusiasm for superhero films.
"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 has touched on this topic before, but he now offers more insight into the reasons behind his challenging tenure. He attributes much of it to a "misalignment of agendas, understandings, and expectations," while acknowledging his own contributions to the negative experience. "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. "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 co-starred with Henry Cavill in Zack Snyder's Batman v. Superman. His time with the franchise included several cameos and a canceled solo Batman project. He also appeared in Justice League (both the 2017 original and the 2021 Snyder Cut), The Flash, and made a brief appearance in Suicide Squad in 2016.
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Details about the abandoned Batman film remain scarce, though rumors suggest it might have delved into 80 years of the Dark Knight’s history, possibly exploring Arkham Asylum and featuring Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke.
Affleck credited his decision to step away from the role to advice from longtime collaborator Matt Damon, but he also revealed that his son played a crucial 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.' 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 moves forward, it is separating its storytelling into more distinct paths. The darker narrative will continue with The Batman 2 slated for 2027, while a lighter tone will be introduced with James Gunn’s DCU, starting with Superman in July. As for Affleck, he has no plans to return to DC to direct in Gunn's new universe.
